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Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2006 > September > 11
Monday, September 11, 2006
This man is a genius
I met Thomas Allor Jr. Friday night at a tutoring fair put on by Dayton Public Schools. He was a friendly, jovial guy with a round face and a quick wit, and many parents were drawn to his flashy display on the video screen of the computer he had set up. The two parents I was following around instantly signed up for his tutoring service.
Allor is a Michigan math teacher. About four years ago, prodded by a graduate school professor, he started kicking around an idea for starting an online tutoring company on the side. No Child Left Behind was newly passed back then and it included a provision that earmarked millions of dollars for private tutoring for kids at low scoring schools. So he launched Tutorial Services.
Last spring at age 40, Allor retired from his school district teaching job to focus full time on tutoring kids over the Internet.
Let me tell you the rest of this story, then tell me if you agree that Allor is a genius. Here’s what he did.
First he spent hours and hours online searching for an existing online tutoring program he could use for his business. He ultimately went with Compass Learning, a Web-based program in which the student works through a self-guided curriculum.
Then he connected with a computer supplier. He told me he has a discount deal with Dell Computers, but it appears Allor also purchases at least some of his computers from corporations that trade them in after a one to five year lease.
Allor told me the computers he uses cost about $500 retail. I’m guessing he gets them at a deep discount — maybe half that cost.
Allor recruits students who are eligible for free tutoring paid by the federal government under NCLB. The federal law requires schools that are not meeting test goals to set aside 20 percent of their federal aid for private tutors for any student in the school that wants to hire one. There are very few restrictions on who the student can select for tutoring.
In Dayton this year, 20 percent of of the district’s federal aid is about $1.1 million. That will fund $1,600 in tutoring for about 700 kids.
So when Allor met parents at the fair Friday, he was offering quite a deal. He said he’d come to their homes and install a free computer they can keep. Then the students works on reading skills on their own through Compass Learning’s online curriculum at its website.
Allor and the parents can keep tabs on the student by logging on to Compass’ Website and checking their progress. Allor gets paid $30 for every hour of online work the student completes — the same fee he said he charged students for his one-on-one tutoring services when he was working as a teacher. If they fall behind, he calls to check up on them. Payment comes to Allor straight from the school district.
Allor told me he has about 135 students in three states, most of them using federal tutoring dollars to pay for his services.
So I started ballparking his cash flow. He makes about $1,600 per kid. I estimate the computer costs him roughly $250. Let’s suppose his fee to Compass is also $250 per student. And lets charge off another $200 per student in other costs, like travel, marketing and his own labor. Allor’s company has no other employees.
So that’s $1,600 of income minus $700 in costs per kid. If my math is close, he’s making about $900 per kid. Multiply that times 135 kids and he will make $121,500 this school year. Now I see how he could retire from teaching so young!
Anybody want to argue with me when I say this man is a genius?
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