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House Ed Committee Passes Measure Tweaking Dual-Credit Courses

The House Education Committee took nearly an hour to discuss and vote on a single bill today/Wednesday.  Members heard about Senate Bill 1-82, which allocates 300 thousand dollars for students to take dual credit courses.  Successful completion gives students college credits at a reduced cost.  Tony Venheuzen with the Governor’s Office told the committee there’s one major change to the bill from current legislation.

Venheuzen says, “The current statute has this statement:  ‘If a student receives a failing grade in a course under this section, under dual credit, the student receiving the failure is no longer eligible for post-secondary courses under this section.  So the current law says if you take a dual credit course and fail, you’re not allowed to take another one.  That seems a little punitive—especially when you consider that we’re gonna be offering a variety of courses; some of them might be college math courses, and some might be technical courses.”

There was no opposition to the bill, but lawmakers showed concern about allowing additional courses after failing previous efforts.  They also talked over whether private school and home school students are shut out from funds.  The bill advanced to the full house with nine members in favor and four opposed—two committee members were excused from the meeting.