The 1999 Legislative Briefing

Gale F. Gaines

October 1999

Summary Regular sessions have concluded across the region, but special sessions affecting education are expected in Delaware, Louisiana and Tennessee. Increases in state general-fund budgets range from close to 2 percent to 9.5 percent, with larger increases in Arkansas, Mississippi and South Carolina. Biennial increases reported include 20.3 percent in Texas and 12.8 percent in Virginia.  Continuing a trend of recent years, several states are providing tax relief. Delaware, Georgia and Texas passed legislation reducing property taxes. Sales taxes will decline on groceries in Virginia, and in Texas nonprescription drugs will be exempt from sales taxes. Also in Texas, consumers will enjoy an annual three-day back-to-school sales-tax holiday. (Florida implemented a similar policy previously.) Tennessee’s Legislature debated tax reform and is expected to take up the issue during a special session this fall. Legislation authorizing the creation of a state lottery, subject to voter approval, was passed in Alabama and South Carolina. Alabama voters will decide on the issue this fall, while those in South Carolina will vote in the fall of 2000. This was another big year for legislation that focused on holding schools accountable for student results and students accountable for their learning. Several states are continuing to expand and improve their state testing programs. Also, a number of states addressed rewards for high-performing or improving schools and assistance for those not performing well enough. Students will have to meet performance standards for promotion to the next grade, and several states took actions to provide assistance to students whose performance is not up to par. South Carolina is continuing to expand its graduation requirements from 20 to 24 credits, and Oklahoma has adopted a requirement that students complete four credits in English and three each in math, science and social studies beginning with the 2003-04 school year. Other common issues affecting elementary and secondary schools that were addressed during 1999 sessions include teacher quality, school safety and early childhood/early grades education. Several states refined charter-school laws, and Oklahoma will join 10 other SREB states with laws on the books allowing charter schools to be created.  Studies of higher education will get under way in at least three states, and legislation passed in Maryland this year was based on the outcome of a study authorized during the 1998 session. New need-based and merit-based scholarship programs were created in a number of states. K-12 education budgets General-fund budget increases for elementary and secondary schools range from just over 1 percent to more than 10 percent. Schools will receive increases of less than 4 percent in Florida, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia. Larger increases are available in Mississippi (10.5 percent), North Carolina (10 percent) and South Carolina (8.9 percent). School budgets will grow 4 percent to 7 percent in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky and Maryland. Biennial increases in Texas and Virginia are 17.4 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively. For the first time since the 1950s, South Carolina has approved the sale of bonds for school construction. Schools will receive $750 million over the next three to five years for capital projects. In 1999-2000, $250 million is estimated to be available. Higher education budgets Growth in general funds for higher education will range from 1 percent to more than 16 percent in 1999-2000. The greatest increases in the region will be seen by institutions in Mississippi, where budgets for two-year colleges will grow 20.5 percent and four-year college budgets will rise 16.6 percent. Funding will grow by more than 10 percent at Florida’s two-year colleges (10.1 percent) and four-year institutions (12.5 percent) and at four-year colleges in Maryland (10.2 percent).  Increases of 5 percent to 9 percent were approved in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky and South Carolina and at two-year colleges in Maryland. Institutions in Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Tennessee will operate with less than a 5 percent increase. Both Texas and Virginia adopt biennial budgets; biennial increases in those states are 11.3 percent and 5.4 percent, respectively.

Teacher pay and benefits In states where information is available, pay raises for teachers range from about 2 percent to 8 percent. Teachers in Mississippi will receive 8 percent raises; increases approved by the Legislature in the last few years ranged from 3 percent to 4 percent. North Carolina is continuing its bid to increase its average teacher salary to the national average. Most teachers there will receive pay raises ranging from 4.5 percent to 11 percent and will average what is estimated to be about 7.5 percent overall. Texas teachers will receive $3,000 raises.  Pay for Virginia teachers will rise 6 percent, and in South Carolina, where the longtime state goal is to maintain average salaries at or above the Southeastern average, teachers will receive increases of 4.7 percent. Increases of 2 percent to 4 percent were approved in Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky and West Virginia. The raise in West Virginia is the second in a three-year effort to boost salaries by $2,250.  No pay raises were included in budgets in Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Information on increases is not available in Arkansas, Florida and Maryland. Reform legislation in Florida required performance-based pay for teachers and administrators. Louisiana’s governor wants to increase teacher pay to the regional average. A study commission will look at the state’s method of funding schools for a special session that is expected to be held before the regular session in 2000. Legislation passed during the 1999 session replaces unlimited extended-leave provisions with a 90-day limit in a six-year period and does away with rest-and-recuperation leave benefits, replacing them with medical leave.  Faculty salary increases Increases to faculty pay range from 3 percent to nearly 10 percent, with the largest raises approved in Mississippi. Two-year college faculty in Mississippi will receive the same 8 percent pay raise that those in four-year institutions will receive, plus another 1.7 percent to ensure that their salaries are at the midpoint between the average salaries of K-12 teachers and four-year college faculty. Estimated raises of 5 percent to 6 percent are expected in Maryland and Virginia and at two-year colleges in Kentucky and North Carolina. Two-year college faculty in North Carolina also will receive a bonus of $125; those at four-year institutions will receive raises averaging 4 percent plus the bonus. Faculty at four-year institutions in Kentucky will see increases ranging by institution from 2 percent to 4.6 percent. States with average raises ranging from 2.8 percent to 5 percent are Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and West Virginia. No raises were approved in Oklahoma and Tennessee or at two-year colleges in Alabama. Information on pay raises is not available for South Carolina and Texas and for four-year institutions in Alabama.

Tuition increases In 1999-2000 there is much wider variation in tuition increases in the region than in past years. Changes to tuition range from a decrease of 20 percent in Virginia to an increase of about 35 percent for community college students in North Carolina. Even with this large increase in fees, the $750 per year that North Carolina students will pay is still the lowest in the region. Students at doctoral institutions in Kentucky also will see one of the larger increases: 10.2 percent. For at least the fifth consecutive year, tuition in Louisiana will not change. Students in West Virginia and at the University of Delaware, two-year colleges in Kentucky and four-year colleges in Maryland will pay 3 percent to 4 percent more. Institutions in the State College System in West Virginia also will assess a technology fee averaging 3 percent. Delaware Technical and Community College, Georgia colleges and universities, two-year colleges in Mississippi and Texas, and four-year institutions in North Carolina will charge between 4.5 percent and 5 percent more than last year. Colleges and universities in Florida have some leeway in setting increases, which are estimated to be 5 percent. Increases of 5.2 percent to 8 percent were approved in Oklahoma and for Delaware State University, master’s institutions in Kentucky and four-year colleges and universities in Texas. In Arkansas, the average increase will be 6 percent, but changes to tuition will range by institution from a decrease of 10.6 percent to an increase of 27.7 percent. More information is available on higher education finance in the following SREB reports: Funding Public Higher Education in the 1990s: What’s Happened and Where Are We Going? and A Primer on Funding of Public Higher Education. Estimates of Salary and Tuition Increases for 1999-2000   Estimated Teacher-Salary Increases Estimated Faculty-Salary Increases Estimated Tuition Increases for In-State Undergraduates Alabama 0 0 2-Yr; NA 4-Yr -1.3% to 20.6% 4-Yr Arkansas NA 3.5% 6% Delaware 3% 3% 3.2% to 6.1% Florida NA 2.8% Up to 5% Georgia 4% 4% 4.5% Kentucky 2.3% 2% to 5% 3.8% to 10.4% Louisiana 0 3% 0 Maryland NA 3% NA 2-Yr; 4% 4-Yr Mississippi 8% 9.7% 2-Yr; 8% 4-Yr 4.5% 2-Yr; 0 4-Yr North Carolina 7.5% 4% to 5% + bonus* 35% 2-Yr; 9% 4-Yr Oklahoma 0 0 7% to 8% South Carolina 4.7% NA NA Tennessee 0 0 5% to 13% Texas $3,000 NA 4.9% 2-Yr; 5.6% 4-Yr Virginia 6% 5.8% -20% West Virginia $756 4.6% 3.5% ** NA - Not available; determined locally *  North Carolina faculty will receive a bonus of $125. ** West Virginia institutions in the State College System also will assess a technology fee averaging 3 percent.

Strengthening student assessment  Nearly two-thirds of the SREB states addressed testing programs during 1999 legislative sessions. Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, South Carolina and Tennessee will continue to develop statewide testing programs. Florida’s program will test students annually in third through 10th grades on reading, writing and math. Science will be added to the statewide assessment program in 2003, and students entering ninth grade this fall will have to earn a passing score on the 10th-grade assessment to receive a high school diploma. In Maryland, work will continue on end-of-course tests in English, math, science and social studies for high schools students. Tennessee, too, will work on end-of-course tests by field-testing assessments in algebra, English and biology. Implementation of these tests is expected in 2001-02. Delaware will develop tests for the end of summer school and for disabled students and those whose native language is not English. Both Louisiana and South Carolina increased funding to continue building on assessment programs that support their accountability systems. Legislation passed in 1997 created a school and district accountability initiative in Louisiana. In 1998 the Legislature in South Carolina passed the Education Accountability Act that requires assessments in third through eighth grades, high school exit exams and end-of-course tests in certain high school courses. Legislation in Arkansas calls for the Department of Education to develop and implement tests for elementary and middle grades and end-of-course tests for high school as part of the Comprehensive Testing, Assessment and Accountability Act passed this year. The act targets grade-level proficiency in core academic subjects and calls for immediate intervention for students who are not performing at grade level. Oklahoma will shift the focus of its student testing program from national tests that draw comparisons among students (norm-referenced tests) to tests that measure the mastery of required subject matter (criterion-referenced tests). In addition, high school students will take end-of-course tests in several subjects beginning in 2000-01. The Mississippi Legislature authorized the state Board of Education to develop and administer assessments and to establish proficiency standards for promoting students from one grade to the next. Texas legislation makes a number of changes that will expand and improve the testing program. The high school graduation test will be moved from 10th grade to 11th grade, and the law specifies certain content to be included, such as Algebra I, geometry, English III, writing, biology, integrated chemistry and physics. The law changes some of the subject requirements at several grade levels and eliminates existing end-of-course tests in Algebra I, biology, English II and U.S. history once new assessments are in place.  More information is available on student assessment in the SREB report How Do SREB States Gauge Student Achievement?

Rewards for improving schools Rewards to improving schools or schools meeting performance goals were addressed in Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina and Oklahoma. These states have joined a number of other SREB states that have provided rewards to schools or teachers (Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas). Part of Arkansas’ 1999 accountability package includes awards to school districts with high test scores or evidence of improvement; $4 million is allocated in 1999-2000 and $6 million in 2000-01 to support the effort. In Florida, schools now will be rated on a scale of A to F. If a school receives an A rating or improves by at least two grade categories and meets the criteria for the state’s recognition program, it may be exempt from state regulations. The budget includes $15 million (up from $5 million) for this recognition program. North Carolina legislation passed in 1997 authorizes rewards for teachers in schools that meet or exceed improvement expectations. In 1999-2000, $140 million (up from $127 million) is available. Once per-student spending reaches 90 percent of the regional average in Oklahoma, the state Board of Education will develop criteria for the Academic Performance Award Program, which will provide schools with rewards based on their performance on a number of measures.

Assisting schools to improve student performance Several states took action to provide additional assistance for those schools that fail to meet expectations for improving student achievement. Alabama will increase funding to assist low-performing schools by 18.6 percent to $6.4 million. Georgia has authorized the creation of seven-member educational “care teams” to evaluate low-performing schools at the request of local school boards. Care teams will recommend ways for schools to improve.  In Arkansas schools that fail to meet acceptable performance levels will develop and implement improvement plans, and the Department of Education will review these plans. The budget includes $1 million in each year of the 1999-2001 biennium to assist low-performing schools and $13 million in each year to help schools that have high numbers of low-income students in kindergarten through fourth grade. The state also created after-school enrichment grants for low-performing school districts to support locally designed programs that target at-risk students in middle and high school. Low-performing schools in Louisiana will get help from highly skilled educators. The budget includes $1.6 million to support the effort. Districts needing help in South Carolina also will benefit from teacher and principal specialists; initial funding  is $4.4 million. The state Board of Education in Florida will intervene in a district if any of its schools fails to make adequate progress for two years in a four-year period. For any school that receives a D or F on the state’s new rating system, teams of educators, parents, business representatives and community activists will recommend an intervention plan to the local board. Students in failing schools will be eligible to receive an Opportunity Scholarship to transfer to another public school or to a private school.

Student accountability  Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma and Texas will join several other SREB states in holding students accountable for their performance and providing additional assistance to these students so that they can meet standards. Alabama students who fail the state’s graduation exam will receive assistance. In Arkansas teachers and counselors will develop an academic improvement plan for any student who does not demonstrate proficiency on state assessments. Because the testing and accountability law passed during the 1999 session calls for immediate intervention and remediation for students not performing at grade level, previous requirements for summer school were eliminated.  Florida students who are not promoted to the next grade will receive intensive assistance, and districts must consider an alternative placement for any student retained for two or more years. Fourth- and eighth-graders not meeting performance requirements on the state test in Louisiana will attend summer remedial classes. Summer school also is in store for low-performing students in South Carolina. The effort in North Carolina will target students in kindergarten through eighth grade who score low on state end-of-grade tests. Once per-student spending reaches 90 percent of the regional average, students in Oklahoma who do not meet the requirements for promotion in third through eighth grades will have to complete remediation programs during the summer or be retained. This policy will begin with students in third grade and will expand to include one additional grade per year until it applies to all students in third through eighth grades.  If the commissioner of education certifies that sufficient funds are available, Texas will initiate a student success initiative that will support teacher training and research-based programs for students who are unlikely to achieve the state’s third-grade reading standard. Funding in 2000 will target kindergartners ($66 million); in 2001, the program will expand to include first-graders ($107.3 million is available). By 2002, the initiative will include kindergarten, first grade and second grade. The next phase of this initiative requires third-, fifth- and eighth-graders to meet performance standards on state tests in order to be promoted to the next grade. This policy will take effect with third-graders in the 2002-03 school year and will apply to them as fifth-graders in 2004-05 and then as eighth-graders in 2007-08. Students not passing state tests will receive additional instruction in small classes. A new program to assist ninth-graders who may not meet requirements to advance to 10th grade also will get under way.

Education for young children The development of reading skills in young learners continues to be a topic of discussion across the region. Funding was increased for programs that focus on the development of reading skills in Georgia and Oklahoma. Teachers in Alabama and Texas will receive help in learning how to teach reading. Alabama has set aside $6 million for teacher training in reading as part of the Alabama Reading Initiative, which has entered its third year. Texas will support the new Master Reading Teacher Program, which will encourage teachers to become certified as master reading teachers and to work with other teachers and students to improve reading performance. Texas also is initiating the Ready to Read Program for low-income preschoolers. Arkansas’ Smart Start initiative focuses on improving students’ reading and math achievement in kindergarten through fourth grade. A study in Tennessee will determine the reading proficiency of the state’s elementary school students and will gather information on other states’ efforts to increase reading proficiency. Efforts to improve the readiness of children entering school are underway in a number of states. In Arkansas support will increase for Better Chance Grants, which fund innovative early-childhood programs for at-risk children. Florida and South Carolina are supporting partnerships to improve school readiness. In Florida, the Partnership for School Readiness adopts and coordinates policies and standards for all readiness programs. The partnership will approve local coalitions and adopt a statewide system for measuring school readiness. South Carolina’s First Steps to School Readiness initiative will improve early childhood development through county partnerships. Mississippi has created a task force to study comprehensive early-childhood services. Initiatives to reduce class sizes — particularly in the early grades — received funding in Alabama, Florida, Maryland, South Carolina and Virginia. Alabama will hire an additional 200 teachers in kindergarten through third grade, and in Virginia 604 of the 2,000 new teaching positions will be in kindergarten through third-grade classes. Florida has increased funding for class-size reduction efforts in districts and has set aside $100 million for facility needs as well. Maryland first- and second-graders will be in smaller reading classes, and in South Carolina funds to continue its effort will reduce class sizes in first through third grades from 19 students to 18 students. Oklahoma and Texas have acted to expand kindergarten programs. When Oklahoma’s per-student spending reaches 90 percent of the regional average, districts will have to offer full-day kindergarten and give parents the option of half-day or full-day programs. Texas legislation encourages districts to implement or expand prekindergarten and kindergarten programs. The $100 million allocated in each year of the 2000-01 biennium will support grants to start pre-K programs at schools that do not have them and to expand half-day kindergarten programs to full-day programs. More information on early childhood education is available in the SREB report Prekindergarten and Parent Support Programs.

More actions on safe schools Nearly every SREB state legislature took action to address school safety and violence prevention. Georgia and Louisiana are requiring local districts to adopt student codes of conduct. Louisiana authorized pilot programs to establish truancy centers. These centers will provide an interagency approach to address the underlying problems that cause truancy. Alabama will initiate a new violence-prevention effort and will allow money from the tobacco settlement case to be used for safe-school efforts and alternative schools. Teachers in Delaware and Georgia will have the authority to remove disruptive students from their classes. Delaware students can be returned to the classroom if the principal provides a written explanation showing good cause. (The state also is supporting school-based intervention grants through a funding increase for discipline programs.) In Georgia, if the teacher refuses to readmit the student, a three-member committee will determine whether the student should be returned to the class (if the original placement is the best or only alternative) or referred to the principal for appropriate placement and discipline. Georgia will require local boards to develop safe-school plans. Virginia legislation calls for districts to ensure that each school develops a plan for crisis and emergency management. Safe-school plans now required for most schools in North Carolina also will have to be done by alternative schools. School-improvement plans in Texas now will include information on violence prevention and intervention policies and procedures. Tennessee will initiate professional-development programs that address school safety. Oklahoma teacher-education students will study classroom-management skills, classroom safety and discipline techniques, and symptoms of substance abuse. South Carolina will hire school safety officers for middle and high schools. Teachers in Maryland districts where at least 25 percent of the students qualify for the federal free or reduced-price meals program will receive training in teaching at-risk students.  Laws passed in North Carolina call for the driver’s licenses of students under age 18 to be revoked for alcohol or firearm possession on school property or for physically assaulting school personnel. It now will be a felony for students or school employees to bring a firearm to a curricular or extracurricular activity sponsored by the school. False bomb threats are elevated to felony offenses; people making bomb threats also will lose their driver’s licenses. Past legislation focusing on safe schools is summarized in the SREB report Focus on State Legislative Actions Relating to School Safety.

Actions on options for students Oklahoma joins 10 other SREB states in authorizing the creation of charter schools. The law allows a limited number of school districts to create charter schools and allows students to attend school outside their “home district” if they have permission from the receiving district. Arkansas legislation creates a new classification of charter school — open-enrollment charters — that can accept students from districts other than the one in which it is located. Public or private colleges or universities, government entities and nonreligious organizations are eligible to petition the state Board of Education for an open-enrollment charter. Virginia will allow two or more school boards to establish a charter school as a joint venture Charter-school proposals in Louisiana now will have to show how the educational program will improve the achievement levels of the enrolled students. Local boards will have to make available vacant school facilities for lease or purchase at fair market value. The state Board of Education in North Carolina will evaluate charter schools and report to the General Assembly on the academic progress of students and the most effective practices in the schools. It will make a recommendation to continue, expand, modify or terminate the program. Florida will allow students in failing schools to choose to attend another public school (rated C or better on a scale of A through F) or use Opportunity Scholarships of $4,000 to attend a private school. K-12 and higher education studies Georgia’s governor has appointed the Education Reform Study Commission to review the public education system. It will review the original study commission’s reports that led to the Quality Basic Education Act in 1985 as well as any subsequent changes to that law. Louisiana and Maryland will study their public-school finance programs. Maryland also will study alternative-education programs for chronically disruptive students and will report a comprehensive strategy to the governor and General Assembly by January 2000. West Virginia’s Legislature authorized a study of higher education to review and make recommendations relating to a number of topics, including the missions of colleges and universities, the delivery of undergraduate and graduate education, statutes and rules, governance, and facility and maintenance needs. Arkansas will study nonbaccalaureate postsecondary education — that is, courses of study that lead to certificates or degrees in less than three years. Arkansas also will require annual reviews of faculty performance to include information on collaborative involvement with public schools. North Carolina community colleges will review the adult high school program to ensure that it is aligned with public school reforms. The University of North Carolina will study the salaries and other compensation of faculty at its institutions compared with those at peer institutions and also will study prepaid-tuition and college-savings plans. South Carolina will study its higher education performance-funding effort to ensure that it meets the legislature’s expectations.

Actions affecting teachers Many states continue to reward teachers for achieving certification through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Alabama provides nationally certified teachers with an annual bonus of $5,000 (previously $1,500). Mississippi teachers earn $6,000 annual bonuses and reimbursement for the cost of seeking certification. This same benefit now will apply to counselors, speech/language pathologists and audiologists who earn certification from their respective national boards. West Virginia will implement a $1,000 annual bonus and will reimburse teachers for the cost of the certification. Teachers in Oklahoma have received $5,000 annual bonuses for national certification. When the state’s per-student spending reaches 90 percent of the regional average, teachers will receive $7,000 annually. South Carolina teachers will be reimbursed for certification fees and will receive an annual bonus equal to the difference between the average teacher salary in the state and the average for the nation. Nationally certified teachers in Virginia will receive an initial $5,000 payment and annual awards of $2,500, and Maryland provides a $2,000 bonus that is to be matched by local grants. Several states took action to address the provision of fully certified teachers in classrooms. Effective in 2006, teachers in Arkansas no longer will be assigned to teach grade levels or subjects for which they are not licensed. District superintendents in Texas will have to notify parents if their children are being taught by inappropriately certified or uncertified teachers for more than 30 consecutive days. Oklahoma soon will require intermediate or secondary-level certification for math teachers in sixth, seventh and eighth grades. Maryland’s Learning Success Program will reduce class sizes in first- and second-grade reading classes and is designed to reduce the number of teachers who are not fully certified. Beginning in 2002-03, districts may receive a reduced grant from the program if the percentage of provisionally certified teachers in the district exceeds 2 percent. The Teach for Texas alternative-certification pilot program will encourage the creation and expansion of teacher preparation programs that recognize the knowledge and skills gained through previous experiences in work and education. In Delaware a funding increase will support alternative certification as well as professional development, curriculum development and mentoring for new teachers. In addition to efforts to provide training for teachers in school safety and handling disruptive students, some states are providing additional professional development to assist teachers. Alabama is funding two additional professional-development days through its finance formula. Florida is creating professional-development academies to ensure a statewide system of training teachers. South Carolina passed legislation that will ease its shortage of qualified teachers in geographic and subject areas. Retired teachers now can be hired and paid on the local salary schedule while continuing to draw retirement benefits. Mississippi will provide mentors for new teachers from the ranks of retired teachers. Texas is expanding its teacher-recruitment program to identify and recruit potential teachers among high school and undergraduate students; midcareer and retired professionals; former military personnel; and underrepresented gender and ethnic groups. Maryland will improve its ability to recruit and retain teachers by allowing them to claim a tax credit for up to $1,500 of tuition paid for graduate courses, by expanding mentor-teacher programs and by providing a $2,000 stipend for teachers with advanced certification who work in low-performing schools. Virginia has strengthened requirements for teacher and administrator evaluations and has tightened requirements for entrance to teacher education programs, for initial licensure and for licensure renewal. Most SREB states require criminal background checks for teachers. Alabama has required background checks through state law-enforcement officials for certification applicants. Legislation passed in 1999 calls for national criminal checks to be done on all applicants for teacher certification and all those seeking jobs that involve unsupervised access to children in public and private schools. In Tennessee, job applicants, rather than local districts, now will pay for the required criminal-background checks. Florida requires state and national criminal checks for school employees. Members of charter-school governing boards will undergo the same fingerprinting and criminal checks. Delaware allocated funds for 1999-2000 to cover the cost of criminal checks on substitute teachers.

Paying for college Actions in several states create new scholarship programs. New need-based programs will get under way in Delaware, Texas and West Virginia. Delaware’s program will provide 600 scholarships annually; at least 150 will go to low-income students who score well on state tests. The TEXAS (Toward Excellence, Access and Success) Grant Program will provide aid to students who meet certain academic requirements. Also, Teach for Texas Grants will support college juniors and seniors who receive TEXAS Grants, are interested in becoming teachers and agree to teach for five years either in a critical-shortage field or in an area of the state that lacks enough teachers. Part-time students with financial need in West Virginia and students pursuing degrees in engineering, science and technology also will receive financial assistance. West Virginia also created the PROMISE merit-based program that will pay up to the cost of tuition and may include an allowance for books and supplies. The PROMISE Scholarship Board will adopt rules that address issues such as award amounts and whether recipients must repay their scholarships if they work outside the state after graduation. Maryland will provide aid to college students interested in teaching in the state’s public schools. Alabama will implement a merit program if voters approve a constitutional amendment to create a statewide lottery this fall. Florida authorized a new college-savings program, in addition to its prepaid-tuition program, and Texas approved prepaid-tuition plans for graduate programs and professional-degree programs. Texas also created a financial aid center to distribute information about financial aid opportunities and how to apply for assistance. North Carolina provided funding for one new financial-aid counselor at each of the state’s two-year colleges. Other actions affecting higher education Arkansas is increasing coordination among the state Board of Education, the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the state Board of Workforce Education and Career Opportunities by requiring the three boards to meet at least annually. In addition, the coordinating board will work with colleges and universities to provide seventh-graders and their parents (previously eighth-graders) with information packets on postsecondary opportunities in the state. Florida will increase access to higher education programs by allowing four-year colleges and universities to offer baccalaureate-degree programs that meet local needs on two-year college campuses. Maryland passed higher-education reform legislation based on the recommendations from a study authorized in 1998. The study addressed governance, coordination and funding of the University System of Maryland. The law reaffirms the Maryland Higher Education Commission’s responsibility for the statewide plan for higher education and changes the University System of Maryland from a state agency to a public corporation. University presidents will have more authority to implement policies that promote their institutions’ missions and to approve new programs. The commission will consult with college and university presidents to develop funding guidelines for institutional budget requests and will review the system’s budget request to ensure that it is consistent with the state plan for higher education. North Carolina is implementing a plan to encourage enrollment growth at seven of the state’s less-utilized universities. A total of $10 million will support the plan in 1999-2000.