Washington Governor Wants to Make Promise Scholarships Permanent - Brief Article

Black Issues in Higher Education, Feb 17, 2000

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Although more than 2,000 high school seniors will be eligible this spring to receive state-funded college scholarships along with their diplomas, the future of Washington Promise Scholarships is in doubt while backers scrounge for funding.

The popular program was only funded by the Legislature for two years. Now Gov. Gary Locke, leading lawmakers and education lobbying groups are pushing a pair of bills that would establish a long-term Promise Scholarship program and expand the criteria to allow more applicants.

Lawmakers say they hope the scholarships will encourage young students to study hard and perform well on the new Washington Assessment of Student Learning test.

"We want to make sure it's an incentive to 10th graders to take the 10th-grade test and pass it the first time," Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Rosemary McAuliffe, D-Bothell, said. "We want to put some teeth in the test and this is one of the tools."

The scholarships provide about two years' worth of full-time community college tuition and can be used at public and private schools in Washington. The actual amount fluctuates based on the number of eligible students. Last year's recipients got $1,225.

Students must rank in the top 10 percent of their class. Family income cannot exceed 135 percent of the state median income based on family size, which means about $69,000 for a family of four.

The two bills, House Bill 1693 and Senate Bill 5598, would make the program permanent and expand student eligibility to include private school and home-schooled students who pass the state achievement test on the first try, beginning in 2003.

Locke proposed a similar measure last year but faced opposition from the Washington Student Lobby, the state Higher Education Coordinating Board and other education groups. They argued that putting state money toward a new scholarship program would take it away from the state's need-grant program, which aims to help low-income students afford college.

This year's proposal reflects a compromise worked out among education interest groups that serves low-income students requesting need-based grants before Promise Scholarship candidates, says Cody Benson of the Washington Student Lobby.