Education Reform Act (Passed)

[Senator Cris]

Senators have 24 hours to object.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I support PiT's amendment, but I am interested in knowing how much mileage that can be obtained with regards the $5 billion?

[Senator Cris]

The amendment has been adopted.

[Associate Justice PiT]

I support PiT's amendment, but I am interested in knowing how much mileage that can be obtained with regards the $5 billion?

     It's meant to be startup capital to encourage regions to develop and run their own programs. Running a nationwide program on $5 billion would indeed be rather unproductive.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I see, very well then.



What is "a relevant authority"?

[Associate Justice PiT]

I see, very well then.



What is "a relevant authority"?

     Authorities that accredit schools. What those authorities are exactly depends on the type of school. It's usually regional, but if I said that it could be understood to imply regional governments. I am open to defining it more clearly, if people believe it is important.

[Kingpoleon]

Should we not have a threshold for each income level? Children with a 27+ score on the ACT should not be denied funding, so long as their parents made under $75,000 per year per child. This bill does not take into account income per child, as a single child with a household income of $100,000 is treated the same as three or four children of the same.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Good point, Kingpoleon. I propose the following amendment to Sections 1.a and 3:

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[Senator Cris]

Senators have 24 hours to object.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I support the amendment.

[Senator Cris]

The amendment has been adopted.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Here is the updated text of this bill as of the most recent amendment:

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[Associate Justice PiT]

     We may want to put in an amendment for the cost of this bill in the budget thread...or handle it in this thread. Either way, really.

[Kingpoleon]

Is that a no to the idea about an ACT/SAT score? Perhaps a progressive system, I. E. 23 and under for those making >$60,000 per child get no funding, 24-27: 50%, 28-31: 70%, 32-35: 90%, and 36: 100%.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Is that a no to the idea about an ACT/SAT score? Perhaps a progressive system, I. E. 23 and under for those making >$60,000 per child get no funding, 24-27: 50%, 28-31: 70%, 32-35: 90%, and 36: 100%.

I'm not a fan of this idea. For starters, the SAT and ACT are highly unreliable when it comes to measuring a student's academic potential. There are a wide array of reasons why an otherwise promising and committed student might do poorly on the SAT - in fact, many colleges no longer require SAT/ACT scores from applicants for this very reason. Keep in mind also that these tests are developed by a private entity (the College Board), and thus do not necessarily reflect the priorities of the Atlasian Republic or colleges themselves. Second (and more troublingly), success on these tests is often tied to one's ability to afford intensive "Prep Courses" which most poor and middle class families cannot afford (I know people whose parent's spent thousands of dollars for them to be tutored for the SAT). Therefore, by tying college aid to SAT scores, we run the risk of unwittingly shutting out poorer students who can't afford these programs. In general, a student's GPA is a much more reliable and holistic measurement of a student's academic success rate, as it takes into account all four year's of one's high school education as opposed to a single afternoon.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I would point out that I had a 3.9/4.0 GPA but scored just below 600 on all three sections of the SAT. I did virtually no prep and certainly did not have access to kinds of resources some had, since it was the middle of the Great Recession. I took the PSAT twice instead of once and thus was able to use that as a sort of practice, of course they were a year apart.

So indeed those scores aren't reflective.

[Ebowed]

I propose Section 6, clause b, part ii to be amended as follows: "ii. For subsequent years, based on annual interest and participation within the region. For a student to count as a participant, the student must be enrolled in a secular primary or secondary school accredited by a relevant authority and must be receiving school vouchers pursuant to the program in place with the region."

I don't think the government should be in the business of actively undermining its schools by funding class-based selective education, but at the very least, we should require a minimum standard that taxpayers don't fund religious indoctrination.

[Senator Cris]

I propose Section 6, clause b, part ii to be amended as follows: "ii. For subsequent years, based on annual interest and participation within the region. For a student to count as a participant, the student must be enrolled in a secular primary or secondary school accredited by a relevant authority and must be receiving school vouchers pursuant to the program in place with the region."

Senators have 24 hours to object to Ebowed's amendment.

[Kingpoleon]

I would point out that I had a 3.9/4.0 GPA but scored just below 600 on all three sections of the SAT. I did virtually no prep and certainly did not have access to kinds of resources some had, since it was the middle of the Great Recession. I took the PSAT twice instead of once and thus was able to use that as a sort of practice, of course they were a year apart.

So indeed those scores aren't reflective.

While highly unfortunate, students with, say, ADHD are more likely to have the opposite problem. I have a friend who had a 3.5 GPA 5-7th grades but managed a 24 on the ACT during seventh grade. He went on to have a 3.2 GPA and a 34 on the ACT his senior year. Most of this score was due to his ADHD, which has an adverse effect on homework assignments and studying.

If we make this for people with disorders only, I believe doctors may be more likely to diagnose someone with ADHD despite little supporting evidence.

[Senator Cris]

The Ebowed's amendment has been adopted.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

As of Ebowed's amendment:

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[Associate Justice PiT]

     This bill has changed quite a bit.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Why do we need to encourage students to enter professions that are already growing?

[pikachu]

Why do we need to encourage students to enter professions that are already growing?

I agree with this. Wouldn't it make more sense to encourage students to peruse jobs in areas in which we're suffering shortages?

[Associate Justice PiT]

Why do we need to encourage students to enter professions that are already growing?

     These are deemed as growing based on jobs created. We're encouraging them to enter these fields, to ensure that we do not end up suffering from shortages down the line. The Bureau of Labor Statistics frequently publishes projections on future growth in different industries. This takes advantage of those projections to guide policy.