Legislature can’t ignore the HOPE crisis any longer
The cost of graduating a Georgia college will be higher if HOPE is reduced.
With the HOPE scholarship bleeding money, the Legislature only has two choices to save the popular program. It can either slash the number of HOPE recipients or the amount that each student receives.
Neither will be politically popular, which explains why lawmakers long ignored the gathering storm clouds over HOPE until the winds nearly blew off the roof of the Capitol.
As early as 2003, legislators were warned that the Georgia Lottery would have a hard time keeping up with the two education programs it supports, HOPE and universal pre-k. This fiscal year, the lottery will be short $243 million. By 2012, the shortfall grows to $317 million.
Seven years ago, the state assembled a commission that made recommendations for deep cuts to HOPE, but a better-than-expected haul in lottery proceeds convinced lawmakers that the state could afford to wait to eviscerate HOPE.
So while the 2004 Legislature passed a bill that permitted an eventual phaseout of books and fees if the program’s finances deteriorated further, lawmakers also tacked on an amendment opening the scholarship to part-time private college students.
The annual price tag of that addition at the time was $4.5 million — or the cost of 1,000 HOPE scholarships at the University of Georgia.
The private college provision won legislative approval even though legislators knew that the HOPE scholarship would eventually outpace the lottery funds. The entire history of HOPE reflects expansions by the Georgia General Assembly, including allowing private college students who lost HOPE because of low grades to get a “second chance” to regain it, as given to public college students. The Legislature also expanded HOPE to home-schooled students and to students from unaccredited high schools.
The strain on HOPE resources also comes from the increased high school graduation rate, which is sending more Georgia teens to college. And the bleak economy is sending more Georgians back to school, fueling increases in the HOPE grants, which go to technical school students.
Now, Gov.-elect Nathan Deal and leaders of the House and Senate appear sobered by the dire situation and prepared to make significant changes to the scholarship program, which has helped more than 1.4 million Georgians attend college since 1993. To earn HOPE, high school students have to have a 3.0 grade-point average. To keep it once in college, they have to maintain a 3.0 GPA.
Many ideas on how to cut costs — and hopefully irk the fewest number of voters — are under discussion by lawmakers. All have drawbacks and will draw howls of protest.
The simplest idea is to raise the threshold to qualify for HOPE so fewer scholarships are awarded. Perhaps, students would have to have a 3.2 GPA to earn HOPE in high school and keep it in college.
There’s already quibbling from people who contend that the GPA requirement should be calibrated to match the rigor of the major. So, students in engineering or math may only have to keep a 2.75 GPA, while English majors might be held to a 3.5 GPA average. Otherwise, students might shun the science, math and engineering degrees that are desperately needed in Georgia because those majors are often the most grueling.
Another idea is to reduce the HOPE award so it only pays for 80 percent or 75 percent of college costs. That would be politically more palatable, as it wouldn’t entail cutting the number of HOPE recipients.
But it dulls the shine of the scholarship, which flourished on a simple and accessible concept: Graduate with a B average from high school and go to a public college or university for absolutely free.
“Nearly free” or “at a discounted rate” don’t have the same panache.
A prominent DeKalb lawmaker recommends incorporating a minimum SAT/ACT score to qualify for HOPE. State Rep. Fran Millar, R-Dunwoody, said tightening the eligibility will eliminate the number of HOPE scholars in remedial classes.
In the fall of 2009, Millar said 10.4 percent of the University System of Georgia’s incoming freshmen students in remediation were getting HOPE. He argued that low SAT scores are a good indicator that a student will struggle in college. Millar cited state data showing that 3,465 public college freshmen with SAT scores under 1000 arrived on campus with HOPE in 2008. A year later, only 1,982 of these students returned to a Georgia public college.
No one likes my money-saving idea — once students lose HOPE in college, they can’t regain it. Parents tell me about their son’s killer semester at Tech or their daughter’s bad spell at UGA and argue that students deserve a second chance at HOPE.
I counter that students need to learn that sometimes there are no second chances. Otherwise, students may be forced to learn another tough lesson: There are no free lunches or tuition anymore, either.
–By Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog
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175 comments Add your comment
catlady
December 28th, 2010
9:00 am
Dr. Spinks, there are too many intervening variables to make your comparison useful for accountability, although it would be fun to look at. I would bet it would fall on SES lines.
Dr. Tim
December 28th, 2010
9:11 am
The real culprit is grade inflation in high schools, public and private. Parental and administrative pressure on teachers to “give an extra point (or two, or three)” is intense. This springs from HOPE. No one looks at a fairly won “C” today as a good, solid, average score. Anything less than a “B” is grounds for heavy conferencing.
atr
December 28th, 2010
9:14 am
not sure why HOPE goes to English, history, literature, basket weaving, or the other majors that there are ample number of people entering into anyway. You want to cut down on the “rich” kids getting a free pass, cut down on the funding (or eliminate) all non-engineering, non-science majors. Rich kids do not want to work. They major in poly sci to avoid real work. Kids from lessor means, like me, take the difficult majors because we need to earn our own money.
36 years in education
December 28th, 2010
9:17 am
Ask any kindergarten teacher if they can see a difference between a child who attends Georgia Pre-K and one who doesn’t– you will hear a resounding “YES!” It certainly isn’t babysitting– these classrooms are rich in experiences for children to learn, grow, and play. Georgia Pre-K is one of the bright spots of education in the state of Georgia. Go to decal.ga.gov and read about the quality of this program.
Chris Sanchez
December 28th, 2010
9:28 am
Maureen,
I agree with the sentiment that once a student loses their scholarship it is gone. These are college students and the sooner they learn that there are consequences for not performing the better off they will be.
I also want to expand on your comments on the whole “graduate with a B average from high school and go to a public college or university for absolutely free” intention. How about lets strip out the add-ons that have come along over the years and get the HOPE back to what it was intended for: college scholarship at public universities in Georgia. I am not saying pre-K is not a worthy program and should not be funded. I am not saying that there should not be some sort of scholarship for private colleges.
What I am saying is that this is what happens to good programs. In good times they are seen as a cash cow and saddled with additional expenses that eventually come back to harm the program for all.
zeke
December 28th, 2010
9:35 am
To solve the “hope” problem, YOU GO BACK TO RUNNING THE LOTTERY WITH THE FUNDS GOING TO COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS AS ORIGINALLY MANDATED AND REMOVE ALL THE OTHER PROGRAMS FROM THOSE FUNDS THAT HAVE BEEN ADDED OVER THE YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dr NO
December 28th, 2010
9:35 am
Do away with Hope!!
Steve
December 28th, 2010
9:35 am
It seems to me after following this issue closely (son who is a senior this year) that grade inflation is the MAIN issue. I don’t see why having a cut-off on some national test like the ACT or SAT is so bad. If the HOPE is truly an academic award, then this one simple measure can eliminate the inflated GPA’s currently taking place in high school. Also, most college bound seniors are required to take at least one of these tests anyway. For the people who say that these “nationalized” test are not fair to the kids from poorer backgrounds, I believe those kids can currently get financial aid grants that the children from the middle class can not currently get. If you want to keep the brightest kids home here in Georgia, you MUST keep this scholarship merit, not financially based.
What if
December 28th, 2010
9:52 am
@Peter, SOME of the better students likely stay in state, especially those from lower income families, but the best of the best taught by (e.g.) our common acquaintance still head for the Harvards, Yales and Rensselaers (etc.) when their families can afford it (or the kids get rides). It WOULD be nice to have some decent data on how effective HOPE has been to keep the best and brightest in-state AND remain for employment. I’m not aware of such.
Peter mentions grade inflation too, as have others, and others have mentioned sliding scales of some sort. @HigherHopes, a grade is not a grade is not a grade. A 3.0 (or a whatever) is not any more the same between the high SES vs. low SES high schools than it is between the selective vs. open enrollment USG colleges. Even in the same school, an A in a properly done AP English course requires FAR mor work than in the euphemistically labelled “college prep” courses. To make a blanket change in the required grade average simply forces (as noted by another poster) high-performing kids to take easier classes in high school – and hence learn less. AND be bored. The solution? No silver bullets, folks. A simplistic ill-thought out “solution” will very likely have “interesting” unintended consequences.
mike
December 28th, 2010
9:54 am
It did not take long for the HOPE program to become what it is today. The original intent was to help poorer students with the good grades attend college. So over the years it has mainly paid for the education of those kids whose parents can afford to pay for their kids education. Now with the new goobers in the legislature, the folks who need education the most will be eventually cut out for seemingly various made up reasons. How about being honest and tell those lower income people who buy those lottery tickets that you are going to use their money to send the upper middle class kids to college and not the kids who live in their neighborhood or the ones who attend school with thier kids. What is amazing about this whole process, is that Georgia still ranks near the bottom when compared to other states in education.
What if
December 28th, 2010
10:03 am
@36 Years, SOME of the pre-k programs are no doubt superb. I apologize for my lack of clarity. My point was that if we’re going to get serious about it, let’s make ALL of those programs that good. You know as well as I do, assuming you’ve taught and/or know the research, that a barely made it out of high school kid watching a chaotic roomful of young ones is no match for a PROPERLY trained teacher with a decent curriculum. AND the sitdownshutupandcounttoahundred test prep purgatory so many kids suffer in pre-k as well as the early grades these days is NOT what’s helpful for school completion or to keep low-income kids out of jail 30 years from now (again, assuming you know the research).
ScienceTeacher671
December 28th, 2010
10:15 am
Is the Georgia Lottery Corp paying in the maximum percentage yet? OR are they still giving a minimal amount to education while paying out huge bonuses? They should not be allowed to pay bonuses at all unless they are providing the maximum amount to education.
Maureen Downey
December 28th, 2010
10:21 am
@Atr, Not sure if you are correct as a friend who teaches medical school tells me that the med students most often have one thing in common — parents who are doctors. And while I understand that being a doctor doesn’t assure that you are rich, doctors overall have some of the highest incomes of any profession. Their kids are clearly hardworking to make it into medical school.
Maureen
30327
December 28th, 2010
10:39 am
“The cost of graduating a Georgia college will be higher if HOPE is reduced”-photo caption
Did you mean the inverse, Maureen?
Toto: speakin' the truth to power
December 28th, 2010
10:45 am
@ another comment
While I agree with your premise that $150k is not “rich” because of graduated taxation, your discriminatory rant against Southerners is undermined by your below average writing skills. You cannot string together a proper sentence. My 5th grade home schooler can write better than you! Your attitude epitomizes those Southerners refer to as CARPETBAGGERS. Please go back to blizzard country. We don’t need your kind dragging down our SAT verbal scores.
Grasshopper
December 28th, 2010
10:51 am
Lotteries are a scourge on our society.
They rob the poor and stupid of the money they work hard for (or are given through government subsidy) and give it, for the most part, to those that could afford to send their kids to school without it.
Lotteries are non-productive wastes of money; without them people would spend their money on food, clothing, shelter and other products that provide jobs for others.
People who think that the lottery is a godsend and encourage more legalized ganbling advocate the cheapening of our society even more.
If you count on the lottery to educate your child, you are a societal sponge.
Bob
December 28th, 2010
10:53 am
The economic times of today are not the economic times when the HOPE program was developed. End of story as it was when it was written. Changes need to be made to allow the best possible outcomes for the best students or the programs dies for all. I have always been amazed at the reports indicating how many college students are enrolled in remedial classes because they have not acquired the knowledge to take even entry-level, basic college classes. This speaks to the grade point average of ‘B’ having little meaning anymore. How about granting the HOPE money only to those that have struggled to get to the point where they do not need the remedial classes?
d
December 28th, 2010
10:54 am
@atr We need a much more well-rounded society than just STEM people. Limiting HOPE to STEM people would be a disadvantage to the people of Georgia. I still say we don’t need to change the HOPE rules significantly, but if we make a 3.0 mean more state-wide (meaning, for example a B must be an 84 instead of an 80), you’re going to get a higher quality student.
I read someone who said UGA is getting better students due to HOPE – well this isn’t as much that students are working harder in high school, it is that the top students are picking UGA now whereas it used to be a backup if they didn’t get accepted to places like UCLA.
30327
December 28th, 2010
11:02 am
I don’t see why it can’t just be income based again. How many people from families earning 6 figures are really playing the lottery??? Where’s the “HOPE” in a trust find child using their college savings to buy a luxury vehicle because they know they’ll get HOPE scholarship?
Who is more likely to retain HOPE?? The poor kid whose livelihood depends on scholarships and financial aid or the well off kid who can always fall back on mommy and daddy?
30327
December 28th, 2010
11:05 am
In my experiences, the upper class, high performing student is not interested in post secondary education in Georgia. No offense to anyone.
Time to Face the Music: Addressing the HOPE Scholarship — Peach Pundit
December 28th, 2010
11:16 am
[...] Downey has a piece on the HOPE scholarship and how the General Assembly can no longer procrastinate on addressing the shrinking chest. A lot [...]
Toto: speakin' the truth to power
December 28th, 2010
11:21 am
“With the changes to the way honors and AP courses were weighted for HOPE graduates after 2006, she barely missed out on qualifying for HOPE out of high school with a 2.9. One of her college friends was “home schooled” through a private Christian school and was taking all remedial, non credit classes for the first full year of college, all paid for on the HOPE scholarship.”
@ Remedial College Classes
This is an ignorant slam against home schoolers. Originally, home schoolers were completely excluded from the Hope scholarship. Then, they had to attend college for a year and maintain a “B” average before they could qualify for the NEXT year. Finally, about two years ago, they were allowed to compete on equal footing with other public and private school students to gain the scholarship for their freshman year. Georgia University System colleges continue to discriminate against non-accredited home schoolers and often accept them on the condition of paying for a year of “remedial” non-accredited courses to “accredit” them. THIS IS A SCAM! A friend’s daughter who had a 1300 OLD SAT score was forced to do this. She graduated college with a 4.0 and is now a successful CPA. By the way, she and her family paid CASH for her education. She even turned down a full scholarship at a private college. Public and private school is always a “step down” for most home schoolers.
Realist
December 28th, 2010
11:23 am
Every entitlement program in this country is in crisis – from Social Security to Medicare to HOPE. The problem of course stems from the fact that all were set up basically as vote-buying thievery schemes disguised as “socially positive” safety net programs. Social Security was sold as a safety net for the “widows and orphans” (a line my delusional mother-in-law still spews forth as if channelling the ghost of that scumbag FDR. In fact it was just a way for FDR to buy the votes of the older generation, con the younger generation, and basically destroy the responsibility that children felt for the ongoing care and support of their parents. Meanwhile it also created a huge government employment scheme that perpetuates waste, fraud, and theft today.
Truly HOPE is no different. There were plenty of folks who wanted gambling in the state. Plenty of folks who never feel that there is enough money to throw down the rathole of government education. Plenty of folks who didn’t want to have to be responsible for planning for their kid’s college costs, and plenty of folks at colleges and universities who wanted a state subsidy for their waste that didn’t require direct theft from the citizens through the taxation mechanism.
So here we are. Every child feels entitled to a free college education. Every parent feels entitled to get the money for a free college education. Every college and university now plans on an easy $4000 or whatever that it doesn’t actually have to “earn.” A huge infrastructure now exists at gas stations, convenience stores, and the like to support the money transfer. Thousands are dependent on the program for their employment. The careers of many politicians are dependent on their continued support of the wealth transfer program.
And of course everyone has a solution that involves maximizing THEIR return with no regard for the inherently troubled nature of the program in general.
The fights over HOPE will be a wonderful case study in why america is so in debt, so morally bankrupt, and so headed over the cliff financially. It would be fun to watch except that the government has absolutely no problem in stealing whatever it wants to keep its supporters happy and rich. And unfortunately I am likely to be one of the ones taken from as always.
Really amazed
December 28th, 2010
11:23 am
Raising gpa would only lead to more grade inflation. 84 instead of 80, would mean that teachers would be pressured into inflation even more!!! Add SAT min as well as 3.0. gpa. I still don’t see how being poor should have an effect on lower sat/gpa. Just because a student comes from a less income household, doesn’t make that child less academically abled. Plus, these families have the Pell grant. HOPE is merit not fin. aid.
gamom
December 28th, 2010
11:34 am
To Teach = I like your idea! My son has been able to maintain hope and will likely have to decide in his senior year, whether he is going to drag out his college career so he can work and save up money so he can finish. I think this is a bad message to send to students who have already put the time and effort in.
30327
December 28th, 2010
11:39 am
If we’re going to incorporate a standardized test I’d prefer the ACT to the SAT. At least it is curriculum based and actually tests these kids on things they’ve learned while in high school.
There are cases for and against, both with valid points.
Grasshopper
December 28th, 2010
11:46 am
Realist at 11:23…
Amen. There are no truer posts on this blog.
Most posters are trying to figure out how to rig the system to their advantage.
Thanks for your wisdom.
30327
December 28th, 2010
11:49 am
The 2+2 programs at Georgia Perimeter and partnering 4 year schools (Georgia State, etc) are excellent alternatives for those kids who make the grade but don’t have the test scores to get in a 4 yr college. HOPE would still pay their tuition, and they’d have an upper hand at entering the work force or a 4yr degree program since they’ve already earned one. This would not only save HOPE $ but would save the student $ as well. Win-win situation that I think more and more students are becoming hip to.
john konop
December 28th, 2010
12:03 pm
I would hope we all agree the goal of hope is to help students gain skills to create the best work force in Georgia. I do not think anyone can show me a correlation between the highest GPA verse the person becoming a successful worker and or student.
I would not change the standard. It seems to make more sense to take the money and split up by % for kids who qualify. This would keep the hope alive for more kids and any kid can get a part time job to make up the difference.
…… Over the last several decades many researchers have tested the relationship between college GPA and various measures of adult achievement. The most common criterion measures include job success in business, teaching, engineering, and medicine as measured by salary level and supervisory ratings. Other, less common measures include social activity, civic participation, cultural interests and general satisfaction.
Qualitative review of the published literature leads to confusion in stating the true effect of GPA as a predictor of later success. In some cases GPA is positively correlated with success on the job (Harrell, 1969, 1970, 1972; Harrell, Harrell, McIntyre, & Weinburg, 1974) while in other cases significant negative correlations are shown (Pfeffer, 1977; Jepson, 1951).…..
http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst;jsessionid=63038F5434953150A08AC43CC3B578D6.inst3_3b?docId=5000107908
• ……No, there is NOT a strong correlation between GPA and college success rates or graduation rates. Part of this has to do with grade inflation and the difference in grading expectations at different schools, and much of it has to do with the quality of education and actual preparation for college that you find at various schools……..
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101207221023AASNAh1
EattheRich
December 28th, 2010
12:03 pm
Just add needs testing. If you don’t qualify for a Pell, you don’t qualify for Hope. The current reality of the mostly poor lottery players paying for rich people’s kids to go to Tech and UGA is obscene.
Mike R
December 28th, 2010
12:05 pm
So funny to see so many posts with people whining like babies, it’s pretty simple, HOPE has issues because there is more money going out than coming in, that’s it, no conspiracy, nobody stealing the money, it’s not being given to certain people and not to others, the Republicans aren’t stealing the money, it’s not being given to rich kids and not to poor kids, either you qualify with a 3.0 average or you don’t, that simple…
30327
December 28th, 2010
12:08 pm
Realist, your argument would hold merit except HOPE isn’t a government funded program like the ones you’re comparing it to. You can choose not to play the lottery if you’re against all things HOPE. It costs you nothing, except maybe aggravation if you force yourself onto a blog about it
Grasshopper
December 28th, 2010
12:20 pm
30327 at 12:08
Wrong.
HOPE is a government sponsored program run by the state government. Play it or not all Georgians have skin in the game.
30327
December 28th, 2010
12:21 pm
Well, I was a poor kid who went to college on a full scholarship out of state. HOPE did not keep me here. If my husband’s business wasn’t based in midtown Atlanta I probably would have never returned to my native Georgia. My younger brother earned his degree from Georgia Tech. He now works for the DOD… in Dubai. HOPE did not keep him here, either
The problem with the rationale for creating HOPE is that it doesn’t guarantee you will keep your top talent here. I’m sure the intentions were good, but that’s a recipe for disaster. And here we are.
By the way, the Mega Millions is $169 million tonight
record profits and six figure bonuses as a result, but somehow there isn’t enough $. Yeah right.
Toto: speakin' the truth to power
December 28th, 2010
12:22 pm
“In my experiences, the upper class, high performing student is not interested in post secondary education in Georgia. No offense to anyone.”
The real truth:
“In my experience, the nouveau rich yankee losers (who can’t afford rent on the one-bedroom New Jersey flat so they come to Jawjah to buy up cheap real estate) are still trying to prove their significance in the world by living cheaply in the South so they can try to send their kids back to blizzard country to attend Northern schools that produce such luminaries as Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Barry Obama, John Kerry, Ted “buy me a drink” Kennedy, etc. etc.”
By the way, I grew up in “30327″. My family made a fortune selling their real estate to “upper clASSES like you. Thanks!
Double Zero Eight
December 28th, 2010
12:26 pm
@ 30327
Boast not thouself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
30327
December 28th, 2010
12:35 pm
Welp, so much for the “real truth.”
Epic fail, Toto.
30327
December 28th, 2010
12:36 pm
Double Zero, please see my 12:28
Grasshopper, how so? Do we pay taxes on it?
Grasshopper
December 28th, 2010
12:40 pm
Georgians pay taxes to run the state government.
The state government spends time, money and manpower running the lottery.
Ergo…Georgians pay taxes to run the lottery.
Late to the Party
December 28th, 2010
12:43 pm
The outcome of giving HOPE to middle and upper income students has been to improve student quality in GA universities – after 15 years on faculty at UGA, I can assure you that did happen even if a few slipped through the net. But another outcome has been that more good students were able to afford to go on to professional school (medical, dental, veterinarian, law) or graduate school. Because they didn’t take on large loans as undergraduates, they could take on loans for graduate and professional school more readily. The end result is a better educated Georgia.
Lower income kids should and do attend college on HOPE but their ambition usually ends with an undergraduate degree, which they often can’t finish because all growing up their parents or guardians didn’t provide the same level of educational support as middle income and higher income kids received. Those who finish university should definitely be counted as HOPE success, but even those who just get a foot in the door and attend for a year have learned about college and what it will take to succeed, sometimes they come back years later and finish that degree. HOPE helps all income levels of Georgia students.
Selfish
December 28th, 2010
12:46 pm
I think HOPE is making the difference for a lot of kids to get into college, if not finish it, and that is worth something in making people aware of their options in life.
Don’t pass the DREAM act however, if you don’t want to see those HOPE dollars stretched a lot more thinly. Right now the number of children of illegal immigrants in Georgia is quite small, but if the DREAM act passes and all kids have to do is graduate from a Georgia HS with a B average to quality, then there will be a population shift into Georgia to take advantage of HOPE.
Toto: speakin' the truth to power
December 28th, 2010
12:48 pm
@30327
Just read this blog regularly. What I wrote stands. It is obvious you absorbed the same snobbery from your “out of state” school. Also, if your are not at least third generation, you are not Southern. I guess your foray out of state was also an “epic fail”. By your own admission, YOU ARE STILL HERE!
Toto: speakin' the truth to power
December 28th, 2010
12:53 pm
Oops. Typo- that’s “you” not “your”.
magpie
December 28th, 2010
12:58 pm
All of this talk about UGA. Do people understand just how poorly UGA stacks up against the good state schools and private universities? This is not to suggest that students should not aspire to go there and get a good education. However, do folks just have no clue as to how far behind Georgia is educationally — from its high schools through its universities?
30327
December 28th, 2010
1:02 pm
I’m a snob based on what? My internet moniker? Continue making brash ASSumptions if you think it’ll make your (non) point. Toto the omniscient one, laugh of the day.
True Grits
December 28th, 2010
1:04 pm
OK here’s a clue: increase the Georgia Lottery’s income. Make the games more interesting so more people will play. A lot of the buzz wore off as people gradually figured out that their odds of actually winning anything are infinitesimally small. Instead of a single huge blockbuster winning ticket, redesign the games so that there are many more smaller winners. Sure, HOPE needs to be tweaked on the expenditure side but I’m convinced the revenue side can be vastly improved also.
Toto: speakin' the truth to power
December 28th, 2010
1:10 pm
@magpie
Please give us specifics. Just which “good state schools and universities” do you refer to? What are the statistics showing “how far behind Georgia is educationally”? Do you include private and home schools as well? Do you consider anyone who moves to Georgia to be stupid? Are you new to Georgia?
30327
December 28th, 2010
1:17 pm
True Grits, the lottery has seen record profits since the recession. Ga lottery employees received close to 3 million in bonuses last year. Margaret DeFrancisco, president of the Georgia Lottery, received a bonus of $236500 on top of her $286000 salary. The money is THERE.
Grasshopper
December 28th, 2010
1:18 pm
Great ideas True Grits!
Find more interesting ways to suck the money out of the idiots’ pockets that play the lottery; trick them into thinking their odds are better at becoming a millionaire for buying a stupid pice of paper instead of actually working for it.
All so you don’t have to pay for your own childs education.
30327
December 28th, 2010
1:18 pm
“Do you consider anyone who moves to Georgia to be stupid? Are you new to Georgia?”
Foaming at the mouth.