Washington State

House of Representatives

Office of Program Research

BILL

ANALYSIS

Education Committee

HB 2963

This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.

Brief Summary of Bill

Requires public high school students to be given $500 in vouchers for end-of-course high school examination fees.
Requires that the vouchers be allotted to school districts, and that districts distribute the vouchers.

Background:

Required End-of-Course Exams.

Public high school students must meet statewide graduation requirements to earn a diploma. One of the graduation requirements is passage of certain tests in English language arts, mathematics, and science. The test options vary by expected year of graduation. One of the mathematics test options for the graduating classes of 2015 through 2018 is an end-of-course (EOC) exam. If a student does not successfully meet the state standard on this exam, the student may retake the EOC exam at least twice per year at no cost to the student.

Optional End-of-Course Exams.

The Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) programs allow students to take academically rigorous courses while still in high school. Students may earn college credit or advanced placement into upper-level college courses, or both, by scoring well on AP or IB EOC exams. These EOC exams are not required, but many students attempt them.

In 2015, the full cost per AP and IB exam were $91 and $110, respectively. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) uses federal Title I funds to reduce the price of both AP and IB exams for low income students to $12 per exam. In 2015, federal dollars were used to help pay for 13,183 AP exams and 866 IB exams.

Summary of Bill:

Public high school students must receive $500 in vouchers to be used towards examination fees and exam reporting fees for end-of-course high school examinations that have a cost to students or their parents or guardians. The vouchers may be used to pay for the cost of AP examinations.

The vouchers must be allotted to school districts. School districts must distribute the vouchers in accordance with rules established for their distribution. The OSPI may adopt rules to implement this section.