Student feels cheated

By RON COLE
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Crystal Lawrence concedes that $500 doesn't go far when it comes to paying for college these days.
But a promise is a promise, she says.
That's why the Chaney High School senior couldn't believe it when she found out that the program to give $500 college scholarships to students passing the state 12th-grade proficiency tests may be in jeopardy.
"I feel cheated," said Lawrence, 18, who passed all five parts of the test to qualify for the scholarship. "We were promised it."
The state still hopes to keep the promise, said LeeAnne Rogers, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Education.
"We are pretty confident that we will still be able to do that," she said.
The education department released test results today showing that 47,141 of the 96,481 high school seniors who took the exams in February passed all five sections and qualify for the $500 scholarship.
In Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties, 2,449 passed all parts and are eligible for the awards.
Legislation passed: Four years ago, Ohio lawmakers passed legislation awarding $500 college scholarships to high school seniors passing 12th-grade proficiency exams in reading, writing, math, citizenship and science. The scholarships were good for any Ohio college or university.
State officials hoped the awards would be an incentive for seniors to take the tests seriously. Students must pass the state ninth-grade proficiency tests to get a high school diploma, but the 12th-grade tests are not required to graduate.
The scholarships are funded by the state education department in the fiscal year after a senior class graduates from high school, Rogers said. For instance, the class of 2000 high school seniors received about $14.5 million in scholarships from the fiscal year 2001 budget.
Complications: A couple of factors have complicated this year's funding, Rogers said.
First, the state plans to eliminate the 12th-grade tests, thus the scholarships, for next school year.
Second, the education department did not include scholarship funding for this year's class of 2001 seniors in its fiscal year 2002 budget request now before lawmakers.
Instead, the education department has asked legislators for permission to use about $15 million in unexpended funds from past years to pay for this year's scholarships.
"At this point, we haven't had any indications that there will be problems doing that," Rogers said.
She said the education department has garnered wide support to use unexpended funds.
Concerns: "There have been some people panicking over this because it hasn't been appropriated yet," she said. "Students and parents, of course, now are counting on [the scholarships] because students in previous years got the money."
Lawrence will graduate from Chaney in June and plans to study physical education and Spanish at Malone College or Liberty University this fall.
She said Chaney seniors were upset when told the scholarships were in doubt. Without the $500 awards, many of her classmates would not have taken the 12th-grade tests seriously, she said.
"Personally, I probably would have tried anyway, but a lot of people would've just gone in and taken the test just to get it over with," she said.
State rates: Overall, 49 percent of Ohio high school seniors passed all five sections.
In the tri-county, Columbiana schools posted the highest passing rate with 76 percent, followed by Mathews and Lordstown with 65 percent each.
Jackson-Milton's 22-percent passage rate was the lowest, followed by Youngstown's 24 percent.
The state also recognizes students who perform at a higher honors level on the tests.
Of the 96,481 students taking the tests, only 2,048 or 2 percent performed at the honors level on all five tests.
In the tri-county, 99 students reached the honors plateau on all exams.