Panel OKs bill to make
SOLs one part of accreditation
Delegate Thomas M. Jackson
Jr.’s bill that would make Standard of Learning tests one of several
factors in school accreditation cleared the House Education Committee
15-5 yesterday, reports the Richmond
Times-Dispatch.
“The purpose of this bill
is to broaden the scope of how we deem an individual school to be
successful or unsuccessful,” said Jackson., D-Carroll.
He wants other criteria
like attendance and improvement added, instead of having a 70 percent
passage rate on the SOLs as the only requirement. Under current policy,
that will be the sole determinant in high school accreditation starting
in 2006-07.
While Gov. Jim Gilmore
did not say he was going to veto it, he strongly backs the SOLs.
Hager is staying in the
race for governor
Lt. Gov. John Hager said
in a Wednesday news conference that he will not drop out of the fight
for the Republican nomination for governor, The
Virginian-Pilot reported.
“We’re going to keep on
trucking,” Hager said. “Virginia’s future is at stake.”
Earlier in the week, Gov.
Jim Gilmore, a fellow Republican, admitted that he had been trying
to broker a deal to end the chance of a tough battle for the GOP gubernatorial
nomination between Hager and Attorney General Mark Earley.
The deadline for candidates
to decide what office they will seek is 5 p.m. today. Hager predicted
an upset, saying he has been underestimated his entire life.
Katzen puts tuition tax
credit bill out of its misery
After his bill was loaded
down with so many amendments that he could barely recognize it, Delegate
Jay Katzen withdrew his tuition tax credit proposal, saying he couldn’t
support it anymore, according to the Newport News Daily
Press.
“I believe that this is
an opportunity missed,” said Katzen, R-Fauquier, “but its time will
hopefully come next year."
Katzen’s proposal would
have allowed businesses’and individuals a $500 tax credit for donating
at least that much to a nonprofit scholarship fund. Parents could
draw up to $3,100 from the fund for private school tuition while home-schoolers
could receive $550.
Among the amendments that
Katzen didn’t want was one offered and added by the House Minority
Leader Delegate C. Richard Cranwell, D-Vinton. His amendment would
have required any private school that received scholarship money to
administer and meet the state's standards on the Standards of Learning
tests.
