MORGANTOWN – The Senate Education Committee on Thursday made a second go at establishing a PROMISE Plus scholarship program – but not without opposition from some members.
A bill to require instruction on the Holocaust sailed through more smoothly. And a bill to require instruction on internet and social media safety proved bigger than expected and will see more work.
SB 259 creates the PROMISE Plus program. Last year, as SB 1, the bill passed out of committee but died in Senate Finance.
PROMISE Plus would supplement PROMISE to provide funding to meet total tuition expenses. Eligibility would be the same as for PROMISE, but Plus recipients would have to meet “additional objective standards … more rigorous than standards established for receiving a PROMISE Scholarship award.”
The current PROMISE scholarship is $5,200. In-state tuition at WVU is $9,648.
PROMISE Plus would be subject to available funding. A recipient would be required to repay it if they leave the state before the number of years equal to the years they received Plus – if they received it for four years, they would have to stay for four years. Repayment would be pro-rated if they stayed for part of the required time – if they received Plus for four years and subsequently stayed for two years, they’d have to repay two years’ worth.
Sen. Mike Oliverio, R-Monongalia, said, “Personally I don’t like the bill.” He particularly opposed the “held-hostage provisions,” meaning the repayment requirement.
The goal of PROMISE, he said, was to train and education our kids, who might leave; but the other option would be not to train and educate them. PROMISE scholars might find it valuable to leave and gain experiences elsewhere. And many kids who would meet the additonal Plus standards would be eligible for other scholarships anyway.
He sat on the committee back in 2008, he said, when it was decided to cap PROMISE at $4,750 because of escalating college costs (it was created as a full ride). He offered a successful amendment then to allow the PROMISE board to provide scholarships above the cap if the money was there, and the board has been doing that in recent years.
Oliverio said it would be better to give more money to all PROMISE scholars rather than creating a new tier, with a held-hostage clause, for students who will qualify for other scholarships anyway.
Sen. Mike Azinger, R-Wood, also said he opposed the bill – but kept referring to the Hope Scholarship in his discussion.
The voice vote was divided and chair Amy Grady, R-Mason, called it in favor of passage. It goes next to Finance, where it died last year.
Holocaust bill
Oliverio is lead sponsor of SB 448, which requires all public schools to offer age-appropriate instruction on the Holocaust “in a manner that leads to an investigation of human behavior, an understanding of the ramifications of prejudice, racism, and stereotyping, and an examination of what it means to be a responsible and respectful person, for the purposes of encouraging tolerance of diversity in a pluralistic society and for nurturing and protecting democratic values and institutions.”
It passed unanimously without discussion and goes next to the full Senate.
Internet safety bill
SB 466 creates a Safety While Accessing Technology (SWAT) education program, to be offered at least once per year for grades 3-12.
It calls for education on safe and responsible use of social media; the risks of transmitting personal information on the internet and the importance of privacy protection; copyright laws; the importance of establishing open communication with responsible adults about any online communications or activities; how to recognize, avoid and report suspicious, potentially dangerous, or illegal online communications or activities, including potential solicitation by sexual predators, unsolicited or deceptive communications, and harassment and cyberbullying; and resources and assistance programs available for any child or parent.
The course offerings would employ peer-to-peer observational learning and modeling concepts prescribed in the book “Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive Theory.”
Lead sponsor Sen. Charles Clements, R-Wetzel, said the bill is modeled on a Virginia bill and is part of a national effort by the Loyal Order of Moose to get states to adopt SWAT programs.
During discussion and possible amendments, Oliverio and Sen. Laura Chapman, R-Ohio, both said they have similar bills in the system that offer additional features – such as sextortion. After some pondering by members and a suggestion by Clements, Grady decided to lay the bill over in order to look at the others and work up a new version combining them. The members agreed and the bill will come back in a new form.
Email: dbeard@dominionpost.com
