Budget at a glance:
-- $294 million to provide back-to-back 2 percent increases in the basic per-pupil allowance.
-- $150 million in bonuses to public schools that meet performance goals and get at least a three-star rating on report cards covering reading and math.
-- $92 million for a plan to give free college tuition to students who take rigorous college-level courses in high school.
-- $75 million in incentives to high schools that implement a more demanding curriculum and an expectation on students to take college-level courses before getting a diploma.
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-- $75 million to, among other things, eliminate state income taxes on military pay and pensions, give substantial tuition assistance to veterans and the children and spouses of fallen soldiers and disabled veterans and up spending on a soldier assistance program geared toward needy veterans.
-- Scholarships of up to $4,000 per child so families can enroll at-risk children in kindergarten readiness programs. An overall cost projection hasn't been announced.
- Associated Press