The Senate is warming to a new funding means for advanced courses allowing high school students to earn college credits. But the upper chamber has still only offered 70% of the funding calculated under a model in use for decades.

A Senate PreK-12 Education Appropriations Committee offer Thursday provides $418 million in the form of a categorical grant to school districts. That’s more than $175 million less than the House wants to fund.

Sen. Danny Burgess , the Senate PreK-12 Appropriations Committee Chair, said the Senate offered approximately 80% of the funding to school districts that would have been generated under the current structure for all accelerated academic programs.

That includes funding for Advanced Placement ( AP ), International Baccalaureate ( IB ) and Camb

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