duel enrollment

[Carolyn Branagan]

Several difficult bills are working their way though the House and Senate. Most of the sponsors have no idea from where the funding should come, so the bills end up on the doorstep of the Ways and Means Committee.

One of the bills that arrived is H776, a bill encouraging flexible pathways leading to high school completion and career/college readiness. The bill sets up a structure called Flexible Pathways that would house several existing programs and a new program called ‘Duel Enrollment’. The existing programs are designed to help Vermonters complete high school. They are open to anyone at least 16 years old who wants to complete secondary school. Students can get a high school diploma or a GED. The new Flexible Pathways structure would also house a new program called ‘Duel Enrollment’.  This would allow some high school students to take college courses and get both high school credit and college credit. So the same student would take one course and get 2 kinds of credit: high school and college. Some schools across the state are already doing similar things, but H.776 would allow Duel Enrollment in every high school statewide at public expense. This Duel Enrollment concept has potential to be of enormous benefit for students who are at risk of not graduating high school but who have potential to complete college. It would help students who simply don’t have the aspiration to complete high school, who have dropped out of school or who may drop out, are bored because they have high ability or any of several other groups of at risk students. 

The question no one has answered yet is ‘how will these college courses be paid for?’ That’s of course why the bill ended up in the Ways and Means Committee. Approval of this program is far from a no brainer, because the Education Fund is not a bottomless pit of money.  No one here wants to take money from the Education Fund because that would raise the property tax rate. The Education Fund is treated as a bottomless pit of money…..have you got an idea vaguely related to schools? Great! We’ll just raise the property tax and pay for it with Education Fund money. This is not responsible and as property owners all over Franklin County realize, their ability to pay tax is not endless. The Duel Enrollment would be a whole new use of Education Fund dollars, and no estimate of the costs available.

So I and several other legislators have spent a lot of time working to find a way to fund this program without opening the floodgates to waves of expenditure out of the Education Fund for college tuition. We drew a box around the existing high school completion programs to make sure they are not shorted. Then we set up a special fund to pay for the new Duel Enrollment program limiting the kinds of money that can be used. Revenue possibilities would not include the Education Fund. So what are the other funding sources? They could be any of the General Fund, Perkins money, Federal Grant money, Next Generation money, or a special appropriation. We also put in the requirement for the Commissioner of Education to do some research on funding possibilities and report back to the legislature early next year. 

This morning I learned that the House Education Committee has decided to bring the bill off the floor back to their committee and not vote on it this year at all. They have some concerns with the way the Duel Enrollment program will be administered and feel that it needs quite a bit of additional work. They are fine with our funding plan, though.   

The crazy season has arrived here at the statehouse, a sure sign the end of the legislative session is near.

Rep. Carolyn Branagan
Franklin-1, Fairfax/Georgia
Vermont House of Representatives

[trussell]

This is a very interesting program and I'm sure it could help a lot of people in the future.  Thanks for being diligent though and not just raiding the education fund!  I do have a question though about the statement "students who are at risk of not graduating high school but who have potential to complete college". Could you give me an example?  I don't really understand how someone that wants to and has the (academic) potential go to college would be at risk of not finishing high school.

Thanks!

[Chris Santee]

from Commissioner Armando Vilaseca to the Fairfax News:

Don’t Let This Opportunity Pass Us By
Every session our Legislature considers hundreds of bills, all of which aim to enhance our current status. This year legislators have an incredible opportunity to fundamentally improve the lives of thousands of Vermont students, and make a concrete investment in the future of our state.  House Bill H.776 and Senate Bill S.233 expand the existing relationship between our public high schools and colleges to allow more students to take college-level courses while enrolled in high school, earning both secondary and postsecondary credits.

Less than half of Vermont’s high school graduates continue their education beyond high school. As the state’s population has grown stagnant and our student enrollment has dropped, it is important that we provide opportunities to keep our young people here and thriving in Vermont. 

According to labor economists across the country and in Vermont, improving continuation rates of students for education beyond high school is an economic imperative. A high school education is no longer enough to meet the minimum requirements for most employers. Businesses need – and desire – employees with the skills and talents they learn in college or in trade or certificate programs.

We face a continued challenge in our effort to close the achievement gap between students from low-income households and their peers.  This legislation offers a response to that challenge by making it possible for all students to take advantage of dual enrollment opportunities through courses available at the Vermont State Colleges (including the Community College of Vermont), the University of Vermont, and six of Vermont’s independent colleges. 

This investment in our students, now and in the coming years, will not only pay dividends in health and welfare, but also in terms of real Vermont dollars, as those individuals will become taxpayers, entrepreneurs and business owners, reduce the burden on social systems, and lift the entire state’s economy. Additionally, students will realize savings by starting college not only better prepared, but by having actually received credits for courses completed successfully, which will reduce the heavy student debt load so many experience once they enter the workforce.

Funding for this initiative is already in place through the High School Completion Program (a specialized program including dual enrollment that is funded by a categorical grant from the Education Fund); Next Generation Funds (available at least through 2013 and currently supporting dual enrollment for approximately 650 students from nearly every Vermont high school); and federal funds that support hundreds of students earning college credit in their career and technical education center programs. This legislation seeks to build upon this base to create statewide equity of access.   

Expand student aspirations so more students complete high school and are career and college ready; provide an excellent and personalized learning experience for all students; invest in the future workforce of our state; improve the lives of Vermont students now and in the future -- these are just some of the outcomes that are within our reach.

Please join me in supporting H.776 and S.233. Do not let this important opportunity pass us by.

Armando Vilaseca is the commissioner of the Vermont Department of Education. He is a resident of Westford.

[rod anode]

"This legislation seeks to build upon this base to create statewide equity of access.  " We are gonna start paying for collage educations now you just wait and see

[mirjo]

Education is not the enemy.

[rod anode]

your right Democrats wanting to steal our money through higher taxes to pay for stupid stuff is

[Barbara]

Seeing as Carolyn is sending us info from the state house the title of the bill as written here has delicious irony, but I do believe we are talking about dual enrollment not duel.

[Margie]

Oh, Barb...you beat me to that!!  Oh, and Ed...while some people might need training in how to make collages...I do believe you meant "college education"...

[Carolyn Branagan]

Hi everyone, Obviously I depend too much on spellcheck. It was late in the day and I was tired, but still should have caught the error. A regular reader  first contacted me about it early Saturday. The humor was not lost on him  and we got such a kick out of it, I decided to wait and see if others would notice too. Duels are going on all day here at the statehouse, but it's worse in the Senate. Don't worry, I'm hanging in there today. I hope some of you could see humor in duel. We're all human.
Carolyn

[rod anode]

i wish we were all republicans