Senators restore money for school testing program

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A Senate committee has crafted a state budget that would continue a standardized testing program for Missouri students.

The House-passed version of the 2003 fiscal year budget was an estimated $53 million short of balancing.

Now the Senate Appropriations Committee is taking its turn, largely disregarding the House action and working from the recommendations that Gov. Bob Holden made in January.

Although the committee has taken no final votes, it has decided many details of the spending plan, including student testing and scholarship provisions.

The Missouri Assessment Program tests are designed to judge students' abilities in math, reading, science, social studies, health and physical education. The tests are among the state's key tools for determining whether to reaccredit public schools.

In fiscal 2002, which ends June 30, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education received $12.8 million to conduct the MAP tests. The House budget had cut that to $5.1 million for fiscal 2003, which the department said was enough for the reading and math tests only.

The Senate Appropriations Committee restored all but $900,000 of that, allowing all of the current testing to continue.