Big Promises, No Plan: The True Cost of Alfano's Tutoring Proposal
Everyone agrees: investing in student success is non-negotiable. But here’s the thing-good investments come with good planning. Otherwise, you’re just throwing money into the wind and hoping for the best.
Enter School Board Member Tony Alfano, who’s currently running for Town Council. He rolled out a tutoring plan during budget season that’s… well, let’s just say it raises a few eyebrows.
His goal? Make sure every student passes the state standardized tests. Sounds noble. Sounds inspiring.
But dig into the details, and you’ll quickly realize this plan looks less like thoughtful education policy-and more like a political soundbite.
💰 The Actual Numbers
Let’s do the math Alfano apparently didn’t.
- 600+ students
- $35/hour tutoring rate
- 1 hour per student, every week
$35 x 600 = $21,000 per week
Stretch that out, and we’re looking at $84,000 a month… or roughly $756,000 a year.
And that’s just for the bare minimum-one hour a week. Research suggests effective tutoring usually means 2-3 hours weekly, which would balloon costs to over $1.5 million annually.
Here’s the kicker: Alfano has offered no funding plan whatsoever.
No budget line. No talk about what programs would get slashed to cover this. No expert consultations cited. Nada.
🌟 Political Theater vs. Educational Strategy
Let’s call it what it is: this looks more like a campaign commercial than a serious policy.
Consider:
- Timing: Funny how the big proposal dropped during budget season-while Alfano is running for Town Council.
- Oversimplified Goals: “Every student will pass!” sounds great, until you remember not all students need or benefit from the same interventions.
- No Needs Assessment: Universal tutoring treats every student like they’re struggling equally. Spoiler: they’re not.
- No Implementation Details: How exactly would tutoring boost test scores? Who’s coordinating it? Crickets.
- Zero Research-Based Practices: If you’re wondering where the educational data is… keep wondering.
Bottom line? This “plan” feels built for headlines, not hallways.
📊 What Research Actually Shows
Real educational research paints a much clearer (and less expensive) picture:
- Targeted interventions work better than universal blanket programs.
- School-based tutoring with trained staff beats out private sessions.
- Curriculum-aligned support helps students actually connect tutoring to classwork.
- Efficient programs spend smart-directing resources where they’re needed most.
Spoiler alert: none of that shows up in Alfano’s idea.
💡 A Responsible Alternative
If we’re serious about student success (and not just campaign flyers), here’s what a real plan would look like:
- Identify students who truly need support through assessments.
- Use school-based tutoring, not expensive outside contracts.
- Leverage teachers already familiar with student needs.
- Align tutoring with classroom content.
- Set clear metrics to track progress-and adjust as needed.
- Create a sustainable budget that doesn’t gut the rest of the district.
And guess what? It would cost about one-quarter of Alfano’s pie-in-the-sky plan.
Related Posts
- Hardyston BOE Budget Talks: Controversial Cuts & Proposals
- BOE Budget Workshop: What’s the Real Story?
🗳️ Conclusion: Budget Season Requires Responsible Leadership
Hardyston taxpayers deserve more than flashy slogans and magical thinking.
Students deserve strategies rooted in research, tailored to their real needs, and backed by financial common sense.
When politicians make big promises with no plan to back them up-especially during budget season-we need to ask the tough questions. And in Tony Alfano’s case, the math and the motives both don’t seem to add up.
Because let’s face it-our kids’ education is too important to be treated like a campaign prop.