An Overview of the Operating Budget as It Relates to Higher Education

The 2010 supplemental budget released this morning and likely to be passed by both chambers reduces funding for public services and programs by $755 million for the current biennium.

Among the reductions in the operating budget, higher education is impacted by both statewide changes and changes directed specifically towards higher education.

Statewide, the 2010 supplemental operating budget assumes $48 million in General Fund-State savings in the form of temporary state agency layoffs and management reductions (SB 6503). The Evergreen State College is reduced by a total of $568,000. This includes a reduction of $327,000 in general fund dollars and a reduction of $241,000 in non-state funds.

In addition, $30 million is expected in savings from increased efficiency in state information technology. The savings will be achieved through strategies outlined in House Bill 3178 (i.e. buying wireless service from master contracts and consolidation of email and phone services).

Specific to higher education, the budget provides funds for worker retraining, maintains much of the state funded student-financial aid programs; and minimizes reductions to colleges and universities to the extent possible.

The budget only increases funding for higher education in two areas. The budget provides $17.6 million for the Opportunity Express Account. The Account will fund an additional 3,800 full-time equivalent (FTE) unemployed workers to train at community and technical colleges for new jobs in high-demand fields.

The budget also provides $1 million to the Opportunity Express Account to provide financial aid for the additional community and technical college students who pursue training in high-demand fields.

Beyond these increases, the budget includes several budget reductions. The budget reduces state funding to the six public baccalaureate institutions and 34 community and technical colleges by an additional 6% overall for  fiscal year 2011.  The Evergreen State College was reduced by $1.291 million in addition to the reduction taken as part of the compensation-reduction bill (SB 6503).

As with implementation of the reductions in the original biennial budget, colleges and universities are expected to focus first on achieving savings through purchasing efficiencies, reduced energy use, administrative reductions, and program consolidations. The Legislature does acknowledge that the following are likely across higher education in Washington: reductions in course offerings, increases in class sizes, and reduced student support services.

The State Need Grant is maintained as enacted in the 2009-11 biennial budget. However, the State Work Study Program is reduced by approximately 30% in the second year of the biennium.  The reduction will be realized through a combination of the following: maintaining average student earnings at the current level rather than increasing them to keep pace with the estimated costs of attendance; increasing the required employer share of wages from 35% to 50% for proprietary employers and from 20% to 30% for non-profits; and discontinuing student eligibility for the program.

It should be noted that the budget assumes the passage of Senate Bill 6409 which creates the Opportunity Pathways Account and funds this account by providing that all profits from in-state lottery games are to be used for student financial aid, early childhood education, and economic development. Funds from the Opportunity Pathway Account, $73.5 million, are appropriated to replace state general fund support for the State Need Grant, the State Work Study program, Washington Scholars, and the WAVE program.

Funding for the state funded GEAR-UP project to increase college awareness and preparedness among students is also reduced by 30%.

Funding is also suspended for several state supported student aid programs.  The Legislature does continue to provide sufficient funds to complete commitments to current recipients. These programs include the Health Professional Loan & Scholarships, Education Opportunity Grants, Western Interstate Compact for Higher Education (WICHE) Professional Student Exchange program, and Future Teachers Scholarship.

The Washington Scholars and Washington Award for Vocational Excellence (WAVE) programs were not suspended but  reduced. During the 2010-11 academic year, only one student (instead of three) will be awarded scholarships equivalent to at least 90 percent of full tuition and fees at a Washington public college or university. Similar to other financial aid programs, funding will continue to be made available for current recipients who were awarded scholarships in previous years to complete their studies.

Finally, a handful of other programs were reduced or suspended. During the second year of the biennium state matching funds are not provided to support innovations in childcare delivery at public universities and funding for the Leadership 1000 project is reduced by 50%.

Two programs were suspended. State contributions for the Foster Care Endowed scholarship are suspended for the second year of the biennium. In addition, state work study for math and science is suspended.

President Obama Signs Student Aid Legislation

Yesterday, March 30 President Obama signed into law the reconciliation bill passed by Congress this past week.

The new law will make major investments in the Pell Grant Program and other student aid and higher eduation programs.  Many of these investments will be made from the savings at the federal level of the elimination of the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). In addition, the new law provides health benefits to college health centers and students.

U.S. House Concurs on Senate Amendments; Student-Aid Bill Headed to the President for Signature

President Obama is expected to sign into law  today the reconciliation bill passed by Congress this week that will bring great change both to health care and student aid in the United States.

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate passed major student aid reform in the afternoon. In the evening, the House considered the Senate-amended legislation and passed the reconciliation bill with a vote of 220-207.

The new law will make major investments in the Pell Grant Program and other student aid and higher eduation programs.  Many of these investments will be made from the savings at the federal level of the elimination of the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP).

Student Aid Bill Hits Bump in U.S. Senate Goes Back to U.S. House for Vote

Yesterday afternoon the U.S. Senate began nine hours of debate on the floor. Senators considered twenty-nine amendments to alter the reconciliation bill .

Lawmakers sought to vote down amendments in an effort of saving the bill from returning to the House for another vote.  However, this was not to be the case.

In the wee hours of this morning, the Senate Parliamentarian informed Senate leaders of parliamentary problems with at least two provisions.

According to the budget reconciliation rules governing the bill all provisions of the bill must directly affect government spending or revenues. Both of the provisions in question relate to the student aid portion of the bill.

One provision involves changes to the Pell grant program for college students from low-income families. As written the bill would establish an automatic increase in grant awards tied to inflation. The provision in dispute would prevent any reductions in the maximum award. The second provision seems to be mostly a technical issue.

The Senate voted this afternoon to pass the reconciliation bill with a vote of 56-43. The House is expected to take up the bill this afternoon.

U.S. House Passes Student-Aid Bill

While much of the media has focused on the passage of health care legislation in the last few days, the passage of this bill also signals the passage of student aid reform that many in higher education have worked hard to move forward and waited months for approval.

On Sunday, March 21 the U.S. House of Representatives passed a reconcilation bill to reform student aid and health care by 220-211. The bill makes several changes to student financial aid policy and provides funds to community colleges and historically black higher education institutions. Of much significance is the elimination of the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) on July 1, 2010 and the use of the estimated savings to increase funding for Pell Grants.

Prior to the passage of the reconciliation bill containing the changes to student aid, the House passed the Senate-passed health care reform package (which also included significant student aid provisions) by a 219 to 212 vote.

The student aid reform included in the reconciliation bill passed by the House was a leaner version of the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA).  Democrats had to revise the bill when the Congressional Budget Office showed that expected savings from the elimination of the FFELP were lower than previously estimated and eliminate the proposal of several new programs to comply with procedural requirements in the Senate.

Four major provisions that were a part of SAFRA were not included in the student aid legislation passed by the House on Sunday. They include:

  • The Obama Administration’s proposal to revise the Perkins Loan Program
  • A provision to lower interest rates on student loans
  • Funding for Obama’s American Graduation Initiative to help community colleges graduate five million more students by 2020.
  • $2.5 billion for a new College Access and Completion Fund

The passage of the bill by the House clears the way for the legislation to be considered by the Senate as early as this week. Debate on the bill in the Senate will be limited to twenty 20 hours and requires only 50 votes to approve the bill to be signed into law by President Obama. If the Senate makes any changes to the bill, the legislation would have to be sent back to the House for another vote.

Final Agreement Reached on Student-Aid Legislation

This weekend the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to approve the combined student-aid and health-care plan.  This is the culmination of a year-long process as well as much strategy and discussion during the past week to determine a final agreement to overhaul the government’s student-loan system.

The final agreement, the Health Care & Education Affordability Reconciliation Act (H.R. 4872), would end the bank-based system of distributing federally subsidized student loans (FFELP program) and move toward a system in which the U.S. Department of Education would provide all loan money directly to colleges and students (Direct Loan program).

The final agreement would use savings generated from the elimination of the FFELP program (approx. $61 billion over 10 years) to increase the maximum Pell Grant. The maximum Pell Grant, currently scheduled to reach $5,500 for the 2010-11 academic year, would increase by the rate of inflation over most of the next 10 years. 

The effort by the Obama Administration to urge Congress to approve an annual increase equal to the rate of inflation plus one percentage point was eliminated in the final agreement and the start of the annual increases was delayed until 2013.

Finally, the bill:

  • Pays off billions of dollars in accumulated budget shortfalls in the Pell Grant program because of rising college enrollments and demand for the program.
  • Includes $225 million a year to help historically black colleges.
  • Includes $750 million over five years for College Access Challenge Grants, which support states and other governments in efforts to prepare low-income students to enroll and succeed in college.  This is down from the $3 billion in the House version.
  • Includes $2 billion over four-years to help two-year institutions. This is down from the $10 billion in the House version.
  • Includes $1.5 billion over 10 years to finance the Obama Administration’s proposal to increase assistance to borrowers eligible for income-based repayment of a federally subsidized student loan by limiting their mandatory monthly payments to 10 percent of discretionary income, down from 15 percent, and by forgiving their loans entirely after 20 years, instead of the current 25 years. The House version did not include these funds.
  • Eliminates the $9 billion that had been approved in the House version to reduce the interest rate on federally subsidized loans in 2012-13 and subsequent years.  The rate is due to drop to 4.5% for the 2010-11 academic year; 3.4% the following year; and then rise to 6.8% after that.
  • Eliminates a provision in the House version to spend $8 billion on early-childhood-education programs.

So what is next. If the House passes the reconciliation bill, most likely this Sunday, the bill will move to the Senate where it could be voted on as early as next week.

Special Session: Day 2

The second day of the first 2010 special session was much more alive, actually feeling a bit like a regular session. A handful of committees held work sessions on various topics of interest and both the House and the Senate spent serious time on the floor considering legislation.

The Senate took action on eight bills today before they adjourned until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. Of the eight bills, two are of particular interest to Evergreen.

The Senate reintroduced and passed with a vote of 30-11 Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6503. ESSB 6503 is the compension reduction savings bill that failed to pass the House in the regular session. The bill, which passed with a vote of 32-10 directs state agencies, including higher education institutions to achieve a $69.2 million reduction in employee compensation costs from the near General Fund through mandatory and voluntary compensation reduction activities (i.e. furloughs, leave without pay, reduced work hours, voluntary retirements and separations, layoffs, and other methods).

The second bill, which passed 32-10, Engrossed Second Substitute Senate Bill 6409 creates the Opportunity Pathways Account. Beginning in state fiscal year 2011, all net revenues from in-state lotterygames that are not otherwise dedicated to debt service on the Safeco Stadium and QwestField and Exhibition Center are dedicated to the Opportunity Pathways Account. All net income from the multi-state lottery games, other than those dedicated to the Problem Gambling Account, are deposited into the Washington Opportunity Pathways Account rather than into the General Fund.

The Washington Opportunity Pathways Account is subject to appropriation by the Legislature, and may only be used for the following programs: recruitment of entrepreneurial researchers, innovation partnership zones, and research teams; the early childhood education and assistance program (ECEAP); the State Need Grant; the State Work Study program; College Bound Scholarships; Washington Promise Scholarships; Washington Scholars; the Washington Award for Vocational Excellence (WAVE); the Passport to

College Promise; the Educational Opportunity Grant; and GET Ready for Math & Science Scholarships.

The House took action on 14 bills prior to adjourning until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow. Of the 14 bills passed two were of interest to Evergreen.

Engrossed House Bill 2561 authorizes the State Finance Committee to issue $861 million in general obligation bonds, to be known as Jobs Act Bonds (Act), for the purpose of creating jobs by constructing capital improvements that lead to energy-related cost savings in public schools, state colleges and universities, and other public facilities. As reported earlier through this blog, EHB 2561 passed with a close vote of 54-39.

Second Substitute House Bill 2854, which passed 58-35, creates the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP).

Finally, today, the Senate’s proposed 2010 supplemental operating budget was placed on the second reading calendar on the House floor.

The Latest on Federal Financial Aid

Yesterday, Congress passed a reconciliation bill that includes provisions to eliminate the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) and significantly boost funding for the Pell Grant program. The House Budget Committee voted 21 to 16 to report the bill to the full House for a vote.

The reconciliation bill marked-up by the House Budget Committee contained the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act (SAFRA). That SAFRA language is expected to be replaced with a streamlined bill when the reconciliation bill is sent to the House Rules Committee. The House could vote on the reconciliation bill as early as this week. While the new language has not been released, reports suggest the bill will include the following: 

  • Savings of $68 billion by eliminating FFELP and moving to direct lending.
  • Pay off a portion of the Pell Grant program shortfall and automatically increase the maximum Pell Grant by the Consumer Price Index (CPI)
  • Provide additional funding for Minority Serving Institutions

Unlike SAFRA, the new language is not expected to include:

  •  The Perkins Loan Program overhaul
  • The American Graduation Initiative to provide $10 billion to Community Colleges
  • The $3.5 billion College Access and Completion Fund

Efforts to pass student financial aid legislation still focus on combining an aid bill with health care legislation through budget reconciliation. Specifically, the House plans to pass the healthcare reform legislation that has already been passed by the Senate, clearing that bill to be signed into law. The House also plans to pass a separate reconciliation bill that would combine student aid reform with healthcare provisions to amend the healthcare reform bill passed by the Senate. Senate Democrats would then have to secure 50 votes to clear the reconciliation bill for the President, with Vice President Joe Biden casting the 51st vote.

Reconciliation ProcessBesides the Pell Grant funding provided in the reconciliation bill, the healthcare reform legislation passed by the Senate includes more than $510 million for student aid in the 2010 fiscal year. The Senate healthcare bill would:

  • Eliminate the requirement for independent students to supply parental financial information to apply for aid from the Department of Health and Human Services
  • Increase annual and aggregate Nursing Student Loan
  • Create a pediatric specialty loan repayment
  • Create a Public Health Workforce Loan Repayment Program
  • Make grants to institutions to award scholarships to individuals employed in public and allied health positions
  • Set authorized funding levels for the National Health Service Corps
  • Make grants to institutions to provide need-based financial assistance in family medicine, general internal medicine, or general pediatrics
  • Make grants to institutions to provide tuition and fee assistance to workers employed in long-term care settings
  • Make grants to institutions for financial assistance to general, pediatric, and public health dentistry students
  • Establish various support programs for practitioners of geriatric medicine
  • Make nurse faculty eligible for the existing Nursing Student Loan Repayment Program.
  • Create a United States Public Health Sciences Track, giving students tuition remission and a stipend for up to 4 years, in exchange for a service obligation.
  • Reauthorizes Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students through 2015.
  • Excludes from taxable income all amounts received under the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program, certain related state programs, or under any other State loan repayment or loan forgiveness program that provides for health care services in under-served or shortage areas.

In addition, the bill would require insurance companies offering health insurance that provides dependent coverage of children to continue to make such coverage available for unmarried adult children until the age of 26. The bill specifically allows schools to continue offering their own student health plans.

The bill now goes to the full U.S. House of Representatives for a vote.

Analysis of State Financial Aid in Budget Proposals

The release of the House and Senate proposed 2010 supplemental budgets earlier this week reflected the hard work of the higher education sector in Washington (i.e. students, faculty, and institutions) to lobby the Washington Legislature on the importance of state financial aid to access and affordability of higher education and the state’s dedication to funding these programs.

Both chambers restored funding for the State Need Grant, restored partial funding for the State Work Study program, and maintained commitments to current recipients of several smaller grant programs.

Though the overall outcome is a positive one for state financial aid in Washington, the details between the House and Senate proposal are worth noting. 

Below is a table that summarizes the impact of the proposed operating budgets on the financial aid programs managed by the Higher Education Coordinating Board. In addition, what follows is a brief definition of the lesser known financial aid programs and the details behind the numbers for each proposal on the table. Please note that the Table is sparse regarding the Governor’s proposal. Detals are provided in the narrative that follows.

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State Work Study

 Governor
Suspends funding for this program.

Senate
Maintains average student earnings at current levels. Increases required employer share of wages to approx. 50% (formerly 35%)for proprietary employers and 30% (formerly 20%)  for non-profits . Discontinues eligibility to non-resident students.

 House
Reduces the amount of money students can earn for college in an academic year through part-time work with their wages subsidized by the state.

Washington Scholars
Provides four-year scholarships equivalent to approximately 90 percent of full tuition for three outstanding high school graduates from each legislative district each year.

Governor
Suspends funding for this program.

Senate
Does not award new scholarships for 2010 high school graduates. Freezes current award grant levels for current recipients.

Passport to College
The program includes college awareness, preparation, and mentoring for young people currently in foster care to encourage them to pursue higher education; scholarships for those who enroll in college; and incentives for their college and university to provide counseling and other supports that will enhance the young person’s success in college.

Senate
Reduces funding by one-third.

State-Funded GEAR-UP Projects
Provides pre-collegiate preparation services to students in school districts without structured college access programs.

Senate
Reduces funding by one-third.

House
Reduces funding for this program by reducing the number of school districts served by the state GEAR UP program.

WAVE (Washington Award for Vocational Excellence)
Provides two-year scholarships equivalent to full tuition for three outstanding high school vocational/technical graduates from each legislative district each year.

Senate
Does not award new scholarships for 2010 high school graduates. Freezes current award grant levels for current recipients.

Health Professional Loans & Scholarships
The loan repayment provides loan payment assistance to licensed primary care health professionals. The scholarship provides conditional scholarships to students training to become primary care health professionals. In return, program participants agree to provide primary care health care in rural or underserved urban areas with designated shortages.

Senate
Suspends funding for this program. Funding continues to be available for scholarships and three-year loan re-payment commitments awarded in previous years.

House
Reduces funding for this program. Individuals currently receiving scholarships or loan repayment benefits will continue to receive them, the number of new scholarships and loan repayment awards is reduced.

Future Teachers Scholarships
In return for conditional scholarships or loan repayments, participants agree to teach in Washington K-12 public schools. Selection criteria include academic ability, contributions to the public school system, potential to serve as a positive role model for students, length of time until completion of the education program, and commitment to serve as a Washington classroom teacher.

Governor
Suspends funding for this program.

Senate
Suspends funding for this program. Funding continues to be available for current recipients who were awarded scholarships in previous years to complete their studies.

House
Suspends funding for this program. Students currently receiving scholarships or loan repayment benefits will continue to receive them, the number of new scholarship and loan repayment awards is reduced.

Community School Matching Grants
Provides $2,000 matching awards as an incentive for non-profit, community-based organizations to raise local dollars for college student scholarships.

House
Reduces funding for this program.

Western Interstate Compact for Higher Education (WICHE) Professional Student Exchange

Senate
Suspends funding for this program. Funding is available to continue scholarship commitments to current recipients and to pay dues for Washington’s continued participating in the compact so that Washington residents may continue to receive reduced non-resident tuition rates at participating universities in other western states.

State Work Study Math and Science
Targets state work study experience for students considering careers in math and science instruction.

Senate
Suspends funding for this program.

Foster Care Endowment Scholarship
Scholarships come from the earnings from an endowment which are expected to eventually be sufficient to support college scholarships for former foster care recipients.

Senate
No contribution is made in the second year of the biennium toward an endowment fund

Leadership 1000
A College Success Foundation program that recruits private donors to sponsor scholarships and provide mentorship to financially needy students. State funding is leveraged with private donations.

Senate
Suspends funding for this program.

House
Reduces funding for this program.

Educational Opportunity Grants
Provides additional financial assistance for community and technical college graduates who would otherwise b unable to attend a distant public baccalaureate institution because of work or financial obligations in their home community.

Senate
Suspends funding for this program.  Funding continues to be available to complete scholarship commitments to current recipients, but no new applicants will be selected for the 2010-11 academic year.

State Need Grant

Governor
Reduces  Median Family Income to 50%. Prorates grant awards to serve students eligible under 50% MFI.

Senate
Proposed revenue package directs $136 million into the Education Legacy Trust Account to maintain enrollment and grant levels.

House
Reduces funding for the State Need Grant. Due to higher than anticipated federal aid allocations, the program needs less state funding in FY 2011 than previously estimated. Eligibility and grant awards are not changed. Maintains policy enacted in the 2009-11 biennial budget.

Higher Education Policy Committees Adjourn; More Bills Move Forward

The Senate deadline to move House policy bills either to an appropriations committee or the Senate floor is this Friday.

Despite this deadline, the  Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development Committee took final action on five bills this afternoon and adjourned for the session.

The Senate Higher Education & Development Committee passed two bills of interest to Evergreen. House Bill 2854 establishes eligibility criteria for the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) created in the 2009 legislative session.

Students eligible for HELP must meet the following criteria:

  • An annual family income, adjusted for family size, that is no greater than 130% of the Washington median family income.
  • Completion of the FAFSA.
  • Be a Washington resident.
  • Not enrolled in Theology as a field of study.
  • Enrolled at least half-time in an aid-eligible certificiate or degree program up to and including graduate and professional degrees.
  • Maintain satisfactory academic progress determined by the attending institution.
  • In good standing, not delinquent or in default, on federal and state student loans.
  • Current on child-support obligations.

The Committee also took action on House Bill 2930 in the afternoon. HB 2930 directs the Higher Education Coordinating Board to give priority to selecting Future Teachers Scholarship recipients to those individuals who are seeking specialty endorsements in math as well as individuals who are uniquely qualified to help schools address the achievement gap.

Evergreen supported the legislation since its introduction and continues to encourage policymakers to keep in mind students seeking endorsements in English Language Learners and special education.

The Committee amended HB 2930 with clarifying language. Specifically, the amendment clarifies that the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) is not required to award loan repayments to all program participants. In addition, it stipulates that the HECB must begin loan repayment for the Alternate Route Program upon documentation of federal student loan indebtedness and completion of the first year of teaching service.

In the House, policy committees diligently worked to move Senate bills forward in the process right up to yesterday’s deadline.

The House State Government & Tribal Affairs Committee took action on Senate Bill 6196. SB 6196 grants military leave for required military duty, training, or drills including those in the National Guard and clarifies that an officer or a state or local government employee can only be charged military leave for the days he/she is regularly scheduled to work.  

The House Education committe took action on Senate Bill 6696. SB 6696 comprises several policy changes to K-12 to make Washington more competitive for Race to the Top dollars, including policies and structural changes in the areas of school and teacher evaluation, assessment, and preparation.

The Committee amended Senate Bill 6696 is several ways:

  • Requires all educator preparation program providers approved by the PESB to adhere to the same standards and comply with the same requirements.
  • Requires the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges to select up to three community colleges to offer a BA plus teaching certificate in a subject matter shortage area. Specifies that programs are subject to degree and certificate program approval procedures by the SBCTC, HECB, and PESB.
  • Clarifies that candidates in all alternative route programs have their performance evaluated by both their mentor and the preparation program supervisor before moving to less supervision.
  • Repeals several additional sections of law pertaining to student teaching centers and the partnership grant aspects of the alternative route program.
  • Removes a duplicate section pertaining to the HECB and needs assessments for the educator workforce.
  • Declares that an essential aspect of overall education reform is reform in state financing for Basic Education, both in the way that funds are distributed and the overall level of state support to school districts.
  • Sets forth in statute baseline values for Basic Education funding, as recommended by a technical working group and the Quality Education Council, for the prototypical school funding formula adopted in 2009 legislation,effective September 1, 2011. Modifies various prototypical school formula elements and allocation categories.
  • Increases the maintenance, supplies, and operating costs (MSOC) factors in the funding formula to a total of $1,082.76 per student over a three-year period.
  • Provides a K-3 class size allocation of 15.0 students per classroom teacher, to be phased in over a five-year period starting with high poverty schools.
  • Requires continued incremental phase-in of full-day kindergarten according to the statutory schedule, with full implementation in 2018.
  • Implements a new pupil transportation funding formula as of 2011 rather than 2013, and states that full funding of the new pupil transportation formula is to be phased in over a three-year period.
  • Restores a requirement that school districts maintain a minimum staffing ratio for Basic Education of 46 Certificated Instructional Staff per 1,000 students rather than repealing the requirement as of 2011.
  • Requires a report from a Compensation Working Group by June 30, 2012, rather than December 1, 2012, and changes the lead agency to OSPI. Starts a Local Finance Working Group immediately with a report due November 30, 2010. Expands tasks of the Group.
  • Continues the Funding Formula Technical Working Group to monitor implementation of the formula and provide technical advice to the Quality Education Council.
  • Directs the Washington State Institute for Public Policy to calculate a savings from improvement in graduation rates and requires OSPI to publish this in an annual report.
  • Directs OSPI to implement an internet portal displaying the prototype school allocations compared to actual allocations, by building.