Parents spending big on private tutors during pandemic, deepening educational divide

Parents are reportedly spending upward of $100 per hour for private tutors to help their kids who are still adjusting to a new type of schooling amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The push for private education comes as parents increasingly fear their children may fall behind due to a lack of in-person instruction.

"Parents are feeling like online education is not working. They are worried," Jennifer Brozost, educational expert and co-founder of Private Education Advisory Service (PEAS) in New York City, told FOX Business.

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One of the solutions that Brozost, who oversees the private educational consulting company, has seen are learning pods.

She says this type of individualized learning, where a tutor will go to a family's home to teach a handful of children, has been a common trend throughout the nation.

And there is demand for it.

She noted that she has been approached weekly by parents who are seeking guidance on private tutors for their children and has even set up a learning pod in her own apartment.

It is more of individualized learning, she said, adding that kids are not only getting in-person instruction but they are also "getting some of the socialization that they are so desperately missing," Brozost said.

However, these services come with a price. And while some parents may be able to foot the bill for private tutors or learning pods, others can't.

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Brozost says this is only furthering the educational divide.

"The ones who can afford it, their kids are able to keep up. And the ones that can't afford it are kind of getting further and further behind," she said. "Now, the inequity has gotten so much greater."

However, this type of personalized education provides value, she says. So even when the pandemic subsides, Brozost noted that these pods may stay and "change the face of education. "

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