The bill, passed in the 2006 Legislature's final hours, would require high school students enrolled in college courses to pay a fee of up to $30 per credit hour. Now, they pay nothing.

"We have enough problems with the Legislature . . .. Let's not fight with each other," regents chairman Nolan Karras said in directing Higher Education Commissioner Richard Kendell to reach consensus with public education.

Kendell said the school board's call for the governor to veto HB151 was based on a misunderstanding that higher education would be "double-dipping," receiving its portion of the nearly $8 million the Legislature allocated for concurrent enrollment plus the $30 per credit fee.

The bill advanced before legislators funded the program.

But long as the state's appropriation lasts, students won't be charged the fee, Kendell said.

Still, he wants the governor to sign the bill so students can be charged if the Legislature doesn't fund the state's concurrent enrollment program in the future. That's where public education has a problem.

State school board hairman Kim Burningham said his board opposed HB151 because it sets up a system that deters high school students from taking college courses.

"The governor recommended [the program] be fully funded . . . and that's what passed. We got the [money] so we don't need this bill," he said.