Friday News Roundup: Week of March 4-8

 

 

 

 

Alabama House Democrats filibustered the controversial accountability act making its way through the state legislature. The legislation offers parents of children in low-performing schools tax credits for transferring their children to higher-performing public or private schools. The credits would be financed through the Education Trust Fund, which supports K-12 public schools, the Alabama Community College System, and the state’s public universities. The scholarship fund is capped at $25 million, or approximately 0.5 percent of the trust fund. The Alabama Association of School Boards has released an analysis that estimates the program would cost $30 million if only 10 percent of students at failing schools participate; that cost would rise to $240 million if 80 percent participate. State postsecondary education stakeholders are hesitant about this new use of the ETF, as costs for higher education continue to rise. More here…

 

California, one of the first states to offer in-state tuition to illegal immigrants who attended one of its high schools, has seen 20,000 applications for state financial aid. This year, the California Student Aid Commission expects to award Cal Grants to about one-third of applicants, or 6,000 students, through the state Dream Act, amounting to about $19.5 million this year. That figure represents about 1.1 percent of the $1.7 billion total spent on student aid annually. The commission has said that once benefits are fully expended to all eligible students by fiscal year 2017, it will cost the state about $65 million. This estimate does not include campus aid administered by CSU and UC, which are primarily funded through tuition. The commission said that inclusion of illegal residents has not made it more difficult for legal residents to receive tuition help, with all qualifying residents eligible for Cal Grants. More here…

 

The Iowa State Senate this week passed its version of Governor Terry Branstad’s education overhaul package. The Senate’s version calls for a minimum starting teacher salary of $35,000 and requires districts to adopt a “career pathways” program for teachers to earn increased salaries for mentoring their peers. The version passed by the House differed; that bill would set minimum salaries at $32,000 and make the pathways program optional for districts. The Senate bill is more costly than either the House or Governor Branstad’s proposals. The governor’s plan would increase per-pupil funding to slightly above $300, with a total cost of $150 million per year, while the Senate’s proposal would increase per-pupil spending to $400, an estimated $190 million annual expense. More here…

 

Missouri State Representative Jay Barnes this week introduced a bill which would allow a student to enroll in the online program of a charter school or a district other than the student’s home district. Currently, school districts in the state are able to offer online educational programs, though they are only available to students who reside within the district. The proposal would require students to be included in the average daily attendance of their home school district, which would then be required to pay the receiving school 72.5 percent of the previous year’s average per-pupil expenditure. The per-pupil expenditure in fiscal year 2012 was $9,487; districts would make a payment of $6,878 per pupil to the receiving school. Critics are concerned about the transfer of money from the state to private organizations. More here…