Yesterday the Governor signed HB 1190 which will update the Opportunity Scholarship requirements to include the option of CTE in the elective category with Foreign Language.  There are also other details of the bill that ensure working together between the Dept. of Education and the Board of Regents.

Yes, we would like to celebrate the success and very favorable support we received from the entire Legislature on HB 1190; we have work to do to defeat recent attempts to continue to change the Opportunity Scholarship.

ACTION IS NEEDED:
Please encourage the Senate Education committee members to defeat the amendment offered by Sen. Bob Gray which is labeled HB 1224cd.  The Committee will decide action on the bill this Thursday morning at 7:45am.

This amendment would raise the ACT Score to 26 from 24 and simply require a 3.0 GPA.

No course requirements would be included in the rules for the Opportunity Scholarshp.  The advanced courses and requiring students to expand their horizons with elective courses such as CTE are very important and should not be compromised.

We must defeat the Gray amendment because it would essentially delete the intention of HB 1190 (which received solid support).

Thanks for all of the help.

Be sure to contact members of the Senate Education committee:
http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2010/CommitteeMembers.aspx?Committee=4

Senate Education Committee:

Garnos, Cooper
Gray, Bob 
Jerstad, Sandy 
Knudson, Dave
Nesselhuf, Ben 
Olson, Russell 
Peterson, Jim 

You can also leave a message with them on the Senate Floor at: 773-3821