Footing the bill for dual credit courses

This week, the Senate Education Committee passed SB 87 out of committee.  Sen. Stan Humphries has done an excellent job bringing this bill back to the General Assembly --the bill passed the Senate in 2013. This legislation would support dual credit courses in our high schools. 

Dual credit is defined in KRS 164.002 (4) as a “college-level course of study developed in accordance with KRS 164.098 (Council on Postsecondary Education standards) in which a student receives credit from both the high school and postsecondary institution.” Under SB 87, students could use Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship (KEES) money they had earned to pay for tuition of up to six college credits per year.

Below is an excerpt from a blog I wrote in 2012 about the need for dual credit funding.

The Need for College Credit for High School Students 

Recently, The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE)              
        conducted a survey of school districts to ask about dual credit
        issues. 

        • more than 32 percent of school districts do not offer dual credit
           for career and technical courses

        • more than 97 percent of school districts do offer dual credit for
           college general education courses

        • more than 60 percent of the districts require parents/students
           to pay for tuition costs

        • more than 60 percent of districts require parents/students to
           pay for textbooks

        • more than 30 percent of districts utilize virtual learning for
          dual credit

As I visit school districts across Kentucky, I find many variations
        in the cost of dual credit. In some locations, the postsecondary
        institution has funding to offer dual credit at no cost to students.
        In other locations, students pay the full tuition costs that a
        college student would pay.

 The results of our survey and my personal visits reveal a number
         of concerns about equity of opportunity across Kentucky for
         students to have equal access to dual credit courses.
         Why is dual credit a good idea?

 A recent study from Jobs for the Future – Taking College
         Courses in High School: A Strategy for College Readiness –
         studied the impact of dual credit courses in Texas. Texas has
         had a strategy around college readiness and dual credit for
         a number of years. Here are some of the findings

         • Students who take dual credit courses were 2.2 times
            more likely to enroll in higher education.

         • Students who took dual credit courses were 2 times
            more likely to return for a second year of college.

         • Students who took dual credit courses were 1.7 times
            more likely to complete a college degree.

I strongly support SB 87 for the following reasons.

• Dual credit works. As evidenced in my 2012 blog, students
   who take dual credit courses are more successful in
   postsecondary.

• Funding will actually save money. Providing KEES
   funding for high school students taking dual credit courses
   will actually save money in the long run. Students who
   receive dual credit tuition funding through KEES will be
   more likely to complete postsecondary degrees which will
   lead to better paying jobs and improved revenue for the state.

• Funding for dual credit addresses inequity. Students in
   Pikeville should have the same opportunity to take dual credit
   courses as students in Paducah and receive tuition support
   from the state. Our current system reveals huge inequities
   across school systems and higher education service regions.
   Why should one student pay $190 per credit hour in one part
   of the state and another student receive the course for no cost?

• There are no long term costs. SB 87 would provide the
   funding for tuition through KEES funds, however, no student
   would get more KEES funding than they would have earned
   under the existing  program. There will be a short term cost
   as the program is implemented for high school seniors in
   2014-15 and high school juniors in 2015-16.

• Funding will increase our college- and career-readiness
   rates.  In 2009, Senate Bill 1 set a goal of 67 percent of KY high
   school graduates reaching college and career readiness by 2015.
   Students who successfully complete dual credit courses in either
   general education or career/technical education are twice as
   likely to reach college- and career-readiness as students who do
   not take dual credit courses.

• Funding will enhance career and technical education.
   Prior to 2012-13, there was no significant cost for many students
   who took dual credit career and technical courses. Since that
   time, enrollment has dramatically decreased due to students
   having to pay an administrative fee to take the courses. This
   decline in dual credit enrollment in career and technical courses
   will have a significant impact on students able to gain industry
   recognized certifications which in turn means Kentucky will
   have a less skilled workforce.

• Dual credit benefits many students. Dual credit is not just
   for our brightest students. More than 3,700 students earned in
   excess of 22,000 credit hours in 2012-13 and thousands more
   earned dual credit in general education courses. In many school
   districts, better than 40 percent of high school seniors graduate
   with six or more credit hours thanks to dual credit. In many
   of our early college models,  students can graduate with 30
   hours or more of dual credit. 

• Dual credit saves parents and students money. By gaining
   dual credit through an early college program or career technical
   program, students achieve college- and career- readiness at
   higher rates meaning they should not have to take non-credit
   bearing remedial courses in college which will save parents and
   students money.

As a member of the board that oversees the KEES funding, I do recognize that we must work out the initial impact of SB 87; however, I do hope that we will not sacrifice long term benefits for our students, our postsecondary programs, and our economy for the sake of short term inability to provide adequate funding. I hope we can come together in the next few weeks to resolve the issues around
SB 87. OUR KIDS CAN’T WAIT!!!

Productive Legislative Session

All in all, the 2013 session of the General Assembly was a very productive session for education. The major initiative of the Governor, First Lady and the Kentucky Board of Education was the passage of the graduation bill. This bill allows local school systems to raise the dropout age from 16 to 18. The bill includes a state trigger – once 55 percent of school districts adopt the change in policy, it will become a requirement in all districts within four years. It is my goal to have 55 percent of the school districts adopt a local policy raising the dropout age from 16 to 18 by the end of the 2013-14 school year. If we are successful in reaching our goal, then starting in the 2017-18 school year students across Kentucky would be required to attend school until they are 18.

Another major piece of legislation that was passed during this session was HB 180. This bill requires the KBE/KDE to work with stakeholders to develop a statewide system of teacher/principal effectiveness and support. This bill was in response to federal requirements for the No Child Left Behind waiver.

Additionally, legislation was passed to complete the reorganization of the career and technical education programs in Kentucky. All CTE programs in K-12 were merged and placed under the Kentucky Department of Education. A statewide advisory panel will assist in developing the details of the merger and the vision for career and technical education in Kentucky.

Also, the General Assembly passed two identical preschool funding bills, one in the House and one in the Senate, that will be much fairer to districts and much easier to understand. The funding bill will help districts plan budgets when they have a loss in preschool enrollment.

Finally, I wanted to highlight the early graduation bill. This bill allows students to graduate from high school and move on to postsecondary options at the end of the junior year; it protects school district funding and provides scholarship funds to students. Also, the bill allows the typical KEES scholarship money to be calculated as if the student had completed 4 years of high school. This bill will help districts utilize funds gained from the early graduation option to improve the services for alternative and career technical education which could lower the dropout rate. If districts lower their dropout rates, then they receive more SEEK funding since they have more students in attendance.

Why was this session so successful for education? The education chair of the House, Carl Rollins, and the education chair of the Senate, Mike Wilson, established an excellent working relationship. While, they did not agree on everything, there was a sense of trust and a focus on improving education in Kentucky for all children. These legislators exhibited the type of collaboration that I wish we could see more of in Congress! Also, I want to thank the Governor and First Lady who were champions for education. Finally, I want to thank the excellent team at KBE/KDE who worked many long hours in behind the scenes meetings with legislators and the terrific “K” groups who came together on key legislative issues.

Now for the fun part – developing regulations and implementing the legislation during a time of dwindling resources. Tough work, but, the right work!