The Council on Postsecondary Education set tuition policy for the next academic year, as well as released the 2020 annual progress report for Kentucky’s public colleges and universities at today’s quarterly meeting. Unsurprisingly, the impact of the COVID-19 public health crisis on Kentucky students and our postsecondary institutions colored much of the discussion. As Kentucky institutions have shifted to on-line learning for the remainder of the spring term, uncertainty remains as to how students and campuses will respond through the summer and into the next academic year. This uncertainty will impact Kentucky’s ability to maintain progress toward educational attainment goals and the types of innovative strategies that will be necessary to ensure student success.
My wife and I stared blankly at one another last month when Governor Andy Beshear announced that child care providers would close in response to the Covid-10 pandemic. As parents of an infant and preschooler, we had to make quick shifts (like so many families) to handle what has become a daily routine of managing workloads, parenting, diapering, and teaching.
Added to that was a new worry. We love our child care center, the teachers and the staff. It is in the neighborhood in which I grew up. We desperately want it to reopen when this public health crisis wanes.
With the state capitol still under restricted access, the Kentucky General Assembly returns to Frankfort today to take final action on House Bill 352, the state budget – a spending plan now reflecting the dramatic (and still unknown) impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the state’s financial resources. Due to these rapidly changing circumstances, House and Senate leaders have agreed to essentially a 1-year continuation budget.
Estimates are starting to trickle out as to how education funding in the CARES Act will be distributed to states. For child care, K-12 and higher education, Kentucky estimates include: Child Care – Through the $3.5 billion appropriated through the Child Care Development Block Grant, the Center for Law…
On Wednesday of this week, the U.S. Senate passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The emergency relief measure provides approximately $2 trillion dollars in federal stimulus to support individuals, businesses, as well as state and local governments weather the COVID-19 crisis.
With the state capitol under restricted access due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kentucky Senate Appropriations & Revenue Committee yesterday passed their version of the state’s spending plan for the next two years. This is step three of the process of crafting the state budget.
The Kentucky House of Representatives today adopted their version of the state’s spending plan for the next two years. This is step two in the process of crafting the state budget. The proposal now moves to the state Senate for their modifications.
House Bill 87 of the 2020 Regular Session of the Kentucky General Assembly aims to increase the number of students completing the FAFSA – the Free Application for Federal Student Aid – by making it a high school graduation requirement.
The legislation would allow waivers of the requirement under certain circumstance for hardship or if a student/parent certifies they understand the FAFSA and are choosing not to fill it out.
Recently, several states – including Louisiana, Texas, and Illinois – have adopted requirements similar to what is being proposed in House Bill 87. Louisiana saw a 25% increase in completions after implementing the change, but it is not all attributed to the requirement. Louisiana took a multi-pronged approach including peer-support programs, one-on-one assistance for students and families, phone-call reminders, and completion incentives.
At a rally in Frankfort this week for “National School Choice Week,” school choice advocates and policymakers called – once again – for Kentucky to adopt scholarship tax credits.
Past legislative sessions have seen proposals that would establish tax credits for individuals and businesses donating funds to a qualified scholarship granting organization to provide financial support to families to send students to private schools or to provide services to students with special needs. The estimated cost to the state General Fund of these past proposals has exceeded $200 million – ranging from $21 to $50 million annually.