Published: February 08, 2008 11:04 pm         

Latest PROMISE change prompts debate in House

CHARLESTON — Handing the PROMISE Scholarship board more power to set rules for awarding tuition to West Virginia students prompted a spirited, Republican-led debate Friday in the House.

When the dust settled, however, the proposed rule change, contained in a Senate-passed bill, cleared the chamber on a 71-18 tally.

Advocates considered the bill as critical to enable the merit-based scholarship program to stay within its budget, proposed for the coming year at $41.6 million.

But opponents, such as Delegate Kelli Sobonya, R-Cabell, noted the lottery puts up $167 million a year but only one-fourth of that is dedicated to the scholarship program. Why, she wondered, isn’t more money being stashed in the scholarship account?

Sobonya and others also were miffed that the eligibility rules keep changing year by year.

“There are (high school) students who had worked hard and played by the rules for the first three years, then in their senior year, ‘Whoops, we raised the requirement, so you don’t qualify,’” she said.

Sobonya told fellow delegates she has heard this complaint from a number of constituents.

“A promise made to these school children years ago should be kept,” she said.

Education Chair Mary Poling, D-Barbour, acknowledged that standards have been altered three times. A 3.0 grade-point average has been consistent, but the original mandatory ACT result was 21. In 2004 and 2005, the ACT stayed the same, but sub scores were changed so that a 19 was needed in certain subjects.

Then, the ACT and sub scores went to 21 and 20, respectively, and the last change left them at 22 and 20.

But the bottom line, she said, is that students kept up with the newer standards and more scholarships have been awarded in each succeeding year than in previous ones.

Since the initial 2002 awards, there have been 22,727 recipients, and some 9,000 will consume the proposed $41 million funding this year, Poling said.

“It’s vital that we pass this rule,” Delegate Tom Campbell, D-Greenbrier, said. “It’s a simple implementation of the current statute.”

Afterward, Delegate Linda Sumner, R-Raleigh, who strenuously opposed the bill in committee, continued her assault on it.

“This rule allows the PROMISE board to annually change the score of what they have to achieve in the ACT, SAT and sub scores, also,” the retired Beckley school teacher said.

“That’s like telling a person in sports that if you’re running the mile race today, and next week you’re going to run it, you’re going to have run two miles to win.”

— E-mail:

mannix@register-herald.com