Gov. Martin O'Malley wants to remove the financial hurdles that he says prevent more students from taking the Advanced Placement and PSAT tests by having the state pay for them.
"Our proposal represents a unique opportunity to remove the barriers to students who want to work hard and achieve," O'Malley said Tuesday.
Since the AP test fee is already waived for poor students, the proposal would only benefit middle-class and wealthy families who pay $86 for each test. High school students can earn college credit if they score high enough on the exam, so the initiative could save families on the cost of college.
Baltimore City and Prince George's County already pay the cost for all students in their systems who take the test.
The proposal is the second education initiative the governor has announced this campaign season. Last week, he pledged to put $1.3 billion toward school construction in the state over four years. The announcement Tuesday about test fees was made near construction trailers at Baltimore County's Parkville High School, which is undergoing a $23 million renovation.
O'Malley also would have the state pick up the cost of giving the PSAT to all sophomores. The test, the precursor to the SAT, would give students experience in taking the standardized test before junior year, when it is given to qualify for the National Merit Scholarship program.
But the governor also wants the state to use it to help ensure more students are prepared for college.
State and local education leaders have made AP tests a priority for students in the past decade. Nearly a quarter of all 2009 graduates in the state took and passed at least one test during their high school careers, the highest rate in the nation.
O'Malley is proposing that the state direct $3 million of education funds to cover the cost of AP exams in the first year. In two years, the total cost would be $7.5 million, which the governor estimates would be covered by a reduction in the amount the state now spends to provide remediation to students who want to take college courses but graduate from high school unprepared.
"If he's buying every sophomore a free PSAT and a free AP this week, what favor is he promising next week?" said Andy Barth, campaign spokesman for fellow gubernatorial candidate Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. The initiative will result in tax increases, Barth said.
O'Malley could not say whether local jurisdictions, like Baltimore County, which already pays for all sophomores to take the PSAT, would be reimbursed by the state or whether the state would simply pick up the cost for systems that currently don't offer to pay.
When asked if costs deter students from taking AP classes, Trevor Parker, vice president of the AP program, said in an e-mail, "It can be, particularly for middle class students seeking to take more than one AP exam." The fee "can discourage students, particularly those uncertain of their readiness."
The cost of the exams can be significant. For instance, if a family had a 10th-grader taking two exams and a senior taking three, the family would pay $430.
Principal Tom Evans at Eastern Technology High School in Baltimore County said his students come primarily from blue-collar, middle-class families, but he hasn't heard complaints about the cost. Perhaps, he said, it is because parents believe they will get the money back in savings in college. "I think it is a wonderful thing for the governor to do. It helps lots of kids," he said.
O'Malley said the proposal would be phased in over two years. The first year, AP exam fees would be waived for biology, calculus, chemistry, computer science, environmental science and physics.
John Ratliff, director of policy for the governor, said several other states that have paid for AP tests have seen a large uptick in students taking the courses. Georgia has doubled the number of students taking classes since they began.
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