Davis Proposes Grants for 100,000 Top Students

Gov. Gray Davis is proposing to award 100,000 of California’s best public high school students as much as $5,500 toward tuition at a college of their choice, an aide said Tuesday.

Davis will outline the plan--costing about $118 million a year--in his State of the State speech tonight, and flesh it out in his proposed budget for the 2000-01 fiscal year to be released next week.

His aide said the Democratic governor is calling for grants of $1,000 for public high school freshmen, sophomores and juniors who score in the top 10% statewide on the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) exams, or in the top 5% at their schools.

Freshmen who attain such status in each of the three years they must take the statewide achievement exam could receive $3,000 for tuition. The money would be kept in a trust account, where it would gather interest, until they decided which colleges to attend.

Students could use the money for any college, including private and out-of-state institutions. About 100,000 students a year would qualify for the program, Davis administration officials said. The program would cost $112 million annually.

In a second part of the proposal, one costing about $6 million a year, students who rank highest on the STAR tests could receive $2,500 more toward tuition by scoring a 5 on Advanced Placement tests in calculus and in a hard science, such as chemistry or biology. A 5 is the highest score possible in Advanced Placement tests.

Additionally, the governor is proposing to spend $20.5 million to increase the availability of Advanced Placement classes and tests.

Critics worry that much of the money would go to affluent students, those who typically do well on standardized tests. “It’s like giving kids who get into Stanford an extra $5,000,” said Bruce Fuller, an education and public policy expert who co-directs the Policy Analysis for California Education think tank.

The disclosure Tuesday is part of an annual January ritual practiced by Davis and his predecessor, Gov. Pete Wilson, of providing advance peeks at what they expect will be their most popular proposals. The orchestrated leaks are aimed at increasing public exposure for the programs and the governor, and generating support.

Effort to Improve Public Schools

The combined $138-million cost of the proposals disclosed Tuesday would be a fraction of next year’s overall budget, which is expected to top $85 billion. The aide, who spoke on the condition that he not be identified, estimated that the total would amount to less than 10% of Davis’ new education spending proposals.

“This is a small portion of his overall education programs,” the aide said.

However, Davis administration officials also see the program as a significant part of the governor’s effort to improve public schools and convince the electorate that public education is getting better. The governor got the idea after attending a conference put on by IBM in September focusing on raising academic standards.

Such scholarship programs are spreading nationally as states search for ways to encourage academic achievement and reward success. A survey by the nonprofit Education Commission of the States in Denver shows that nine states, including Florida, Maryland and Michigan, operate similar programs. Six other states have more limited scholarship efforts tied to academic accomplishments.

In Georgia, high school students who get a B average or better pay no tuition at Georgia state colleges, and they receive book allowances as long as they maintain a B average in college.

If the students attend a private college in Georgia, they can receive up to $3,000 per year for tuition. Georgia began its $200-million-a-year HOPE Scholarship program in 1993.

Davis’ proposals will require legislative approval and will be part of negotiations over the budget. Although Republican legislators were quick to embrace it, some Democrats were less than enthusiastic. Some lawmakers frown on the concept of paying students to perform.

“We’ve already asked a lot of things of the schools,” said state Sen. Dede Alpert (D-Coronado), head of the Senate Education Committee. “What we’re hearing from schools is that they would like more money to implement things we’ve already been asking of them.”

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Steve Peace (D-El Cajon), noting that the state for years has focused on improving elementary schools, lauded Davis for beginning to shift the focus to high school and college. But Peace said California’s biggest need is to increase classroom space at state universities and colleges.

“The governor seems to focus on merit. There’s value to that,” Peace said. “But the biggest problem is not the cost of [public] college. It’s the space. Hopefully, we’ll see more aggressive expansion for colleges. We need more seats.”

The Democrats’ initial hesitation notwithstanding, governors generally get most of what they want in budget negotiations. Davis probably will garner support from significant numbers of fellow Democrats, and from Republicans, who already are calling for lower tuition at the California State University and University of California systems.

“Anything that makes the cost of college cheaper is a good idea,” said Sen. Jim Brulte (R-Rancho Cucamonga), the Senate Republicans’ lead person on budget issues. “Anything that rewards excellence is a good idea. This does both.”

A recent Rand Corp. study found that college costs are rising at twice the rate of inflation, making higher education less affordable for all students.

Fuller said the motivation such scholarships provide comes far too late in children’s academic careers to make a difference.

“By the time kids reach high school, the story is pretty much told as to where their future lies,” he said.

In addition, he said, the idea of giving scholarships to students scoring in the top 10% statewide will result in giving more money to students who are the most affluent, because the distribution of wealth closely approximates the distribution of test scores.

“Are those the kids we need to motivate, or are we simply giving more taxpayer dollars to kids who are already affluent?”