HOPE cuts also affect students in private Georgia colleges
Many students and parents are upset that the new HOPE limits revealed yesterday by Gov. Nathan Deal will be applied to students already in college.
Those students may have chosen Georgia public colleges based on an expectation that HOPE would cover full tuition as it has since its inception. Now, most will be downgraded to HOPE Lite, as they lack the required 3.7 GPA in high school and the 3.5 GPA in college to qualify for the full funding. Those students with the mandated GPAs to retain full funding have a new name, Zell Miller Scholars.
(Wish the governor had not thrown another name in the mix. I think Full HOPE and HOPE Lite are clearer in their intent.)
HOPE Lite students will get around 90 percent of their tuition covered minus any money for books and fees, which means about $1,500 a year more out of pocket for students at the research campuses.
If you are among them, please call my AJC colleague Laura Diamond who is writing a deadline story today: She is focusing on student/parent concerns on how to pay for what HOPE won’t cover. Will you rely on loans? Will you attend a different, less expensive college? Will you take fewer courses to save money? We’re interested in the different options students and parents are considering. Please contact Laura Diamond. ldiamond@ajc.com.
Now, back to the blog:
The state is also cutting the funds for Georgia students attending private colleges in the state, a decision that hasn’t stirred much response. If private college students had the 3.7 GPA in high school, the 3.5 in college and the required test scores, they keep their full private school HOPE amount. If not, they will see a $400 cut per year. I understand the argument that a $400 cut for the privates is actually a good deal, considering that the dollar loss to the UGA and Tech students is more than three times that amount.
But here is one student who says it will hurt:
It is very troubling that they have raised the GPA requirements for full financial coverage. I am a freshman, with 18 hours and a 4.0 under my belt. My mother is fully disabled and I can barely afford school as it is with the price for a private school.
It’s hard to see that they are raising GPA requirements and cutting the amount given to private schools by $400 (that I don’t have) so, I guess I will have to get a job that could interfere with my GPA. I’m hoping people will begin to realize that the PELL grant and others barely help cover tuition and for students like me, so HOPE is a blessing.
Reinstating the income cap would be the most beneficial thing. The higher the income, the lower the amount offered. I feel as though students who worked hard to earn HOPE, no matter their family’s income, should be rewarded, but others do need it more.
They could still offer some incentive for those families who make a large income without giving them the whole shebang. We are all scared, because losing money from HOPE could mean a lot of us will not know what it feels like to see a college diploma in our hands.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get School blog
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89 comments Add your comment
OMG this is crazy
February 23rd, 2011
3:05 pm
A state legislative leader said he hoped that Tennessee’s lottery would pay its top officials less than top executives at the Georgia lottery were paid when Rebecca Paul was director there.
Paul, the new Tennessee lottery director who officially came from Georgia this week, had a dozen lottery vice presidents working for her in Georgia ⬠five of them earning $151,000-$180,000 a year, including bonuses.
”That seems to be on the high side,” said state Sen. Ron Ramsey of Blountville, Senate Republican Caucus chairman. ”That’s higher than what anyone else in state government would be making.”
Most Tennessee government department heads ⬠the commissioners who make decisions â¬earn $92,376 a year, although there are exceptions that allow higher pay. Most second-tier executives ⬠deputy and assistant commissioners ⬠earn between $75,000 and $85,000 although, again, there are exceptions.
In South Carolina, which is the nation’s newest lottery until Tennessee starts selling tickets, an executive director and chief operating officer run the organization. They have six directors, who make $82,400-$111,240. None is eligible for bonuses.
Paul, whose salary as Tennessee lottery director could reach $752,500 this year, said she had not yet decided on the executive structure she will recommend to the lottery board, which has the final decision on staffing and compensation.
Nor, Paul said, does she yet know the salaries she will recommend for her top executives, but she added, ”I would hope we will pay competitive salaries.”
Members of the lottery board’s human resources committee might meet as early as today to begin discussing staffing and salaries.
Paul is working to hire six to eight people who have lottery experience for the senior-level positions, making it unlikely that they will be Tennesseans.
First up is a vice president for human resources, a position that she said she hoped to have filled by today.
When asked if she expected the Tennessee lottery to be competitive with what Georgia pays, she said, ”That’s something the board needs to talk about.”
Paul’s own salary places her atop all other lottery chiefs in the nation and has come under some criticism.
She was paid $500,000 at Georgia’s lottery last year ⬠a $290,000 base plus a $210,000 bonus.
Paul’s base salary in Tennessee, $350,000, was set by adding 20%-25% to what she made in Georgia, which board members said was a customary practice used by recruiting firms.
Board members have not said if they plan to use that practice in recruiting vice presidents or if those vice presidents will be eligible for bonuses.
Ramsey, who complained that Paul’s compensation was ”obscene,” said he understood the realities of paying market rates for salaries, but he questioned whether lottery executives should be the highest-paid people in state government.
”Every dollar taken away for salaries could have been put into scholarships or prizes.”
Ramsey, who voted in the legislature last year for both lottery bills, said he personally opposes the lottery.
Lottery board member Jim Hill of Chattanooga, chairman of the human resources committee, said the board would wait for Paul’s recommendations on everything from an organizational structure to compensation packages.
”We haven’t talked about it,” Hill said.
When Paul started the Georgia lottery 10 years ago as its CEO and president, she had a chief operating officer. That position has been eliminated, and the top staff includes five senior vice presidents and seven vice presidents, all eligible for bonuses.
A draft of a proposed organizational structure for the Tennessee lottery prepared by lottery board member Deborah Story, a human resources consultant, shows eight department heads reporting to the CEO: operations/administration, finance, sales, human resources, general counsel, security/internal audit, information technology and marketing/advertising/public relations.
Paul said she has some of her own thoughts.
”There are a number of ways to organize a structure. The board will talk about what they think is best for Tennessee and I’ll talk about what I think is best for the lottery.”
Comparing lottery officials’ salaries
Here are the salaries of senior officials at the Georgia and South Carolina lotteries and the salaries of the heads of some of the largest and most complex departments and agencies in Tennessee state government.
x-Salaries for senior officials of Georgia lottery
y-Cathy Walls, Senior VP of corporate affairs, $180,000
Wanda Wilson, Senior VP and general counsel, $180,000
Andy Davis, Senior VP of finance & information, $175,000
Sidney Chambers, Senior VP of sales, $160,000
Joan Schoubert, Senior VP of administration, $151,000
Salaries for senior officials at South Carolina lottery
Pat Koop, Director sales & marketing, $105,029
Dale Rhodes, Director, finance, $97,850
Hogan Brown, Director, legal services, $111,240
Tom Marsh, Director, security, $82,400
Ernestine Middleton, Director, internal operations, $91,928
Liz Mason, Director, information technology, $102,742
Salaries for top Tennessee officials
Gerald Nicely, Transportation commissioner, $92,376
Michael Miller, Children’s services commissioner, $92,376
Quenton White, Correction commissioner, $92,376
Betsy Child, Environment & Conservation, $92,376
Matt Kisber, Economic & Community Dev., $98,316
Dave Goetz, Finance commissioner, $131,124
Kenneth Robinson, Health commissioner, $136,416
Manny Martins, TennCare director, $196,680
z-Phil Bredesen, Governor, $85,000
zeb
February 23rd, 2011
3:08 pm
I am a student at a Georgia 4 year University, and I work on campus which is about $400 a month and I basically live expense free. I could also take a full-time job on campus and cut my expenses for classes and not even need HOPE…. but eh most kids just go to school bank on the grants / scholarships for everything .. You gotta work too….. or just have awesome grades and private scholarships.
jarvis
February 23rd, 2011
3:12 pm
@Simple Mathematics, I went to a public school.
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February 23rd, 2011
4:15 pm
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TW
February 23rd, 2011
4:50 pm
HOPE still remains a great way to get that lazy low-income moron to pay for rich kids’ tuition.
Fred
February 23rd, 2011
5:09 pm
Hmmm, let’s see. HOPE reimbursement to the top research institutions is $7k+ without looking up the exact amount. HOPE reimbursement to private schools is $4k soon to be less. With a $3k differential it looks to me that Georgia ought to be encouraging as many students as they can to go to private schools instead of the top state schools. To suggest otherwise is to dig the hole deeper.
Many of the comments here have said things to the effect of we don’t want the students with the lower GPAs to become teachers here. By the same token, do you really want other than the best people running the lottery? The GA Lottery Corporation is the most successful in the nation. To reach that level takes the best and brightest (heard that phrase before?) The best and brightest command the best salaries. Private corporations with this level of assets and revenue streams pay comparable salaries to these. I don’t think I want the proceeds decreasing because we have become a second tier lottery. I may not personally like the higher salary but if that what it takes to get the best, it is what it takes. I don’t like the high salaries of many athletes and entertainers but I don’t have a lot of say in that either.
It is kind of funny to me that people are complaining as thought the lottery and HOPE were a tax redistributing people’s income with no recourse. If you don’t like it, don’t play. Then none of your money is impacted.
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February 23rd, 2011
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Lee
February 23rd, 2011
7:05 pm
That $1500 Maureen quoted was for one of the flagship universities. So, worst case scenario, out of pocket expenses is less than most will pay for cable tv and cell phones for a year.
And people are complaining about that?!?!?!? Give me a break.
Here’s a thought. Annual tuition for community colleges is about $3000/yr and for regionals (KSU, etc), it runs about $6000/yr.
For you mouth breathers, if you cut out 2-3 packs of Marlboros per week, you can send Jr to college.
GNGS
February 23rd, 2011
7:06 pm
The proposed changes for HOPE are reasonable. They should have been better, and of course they could have been worse.
Good: maintain the full HOPE for higher performing students regardless of family income, leave Pell grant alone and increase Pre-K slots.
Bad: reduce time for Pre-K and no income cap for Pre-K.
Ugly: continue support for private colleges and increase complexity (bureaucracy) for managing HOPE.
no mas
February 23rd, 2011
7:12 pm
Has anyone done research to determine how much in HOPE scholarship money is going to students in private colleges?
If that money were taken away, would it be enough to restore full HOPE to all the public college students?
Would it be enough to lower the requirements for the Miller Scholarship?
Until this is known, it seems as if the private college HOPE argument is an emotional one rather than an objective one.
NWGA teacher
February 23rd, 2011
7:23 pm
@ TonyaC and Catherine: for most Americans, $400 can make or break the budget. That’s sad and it’s tough, but it’s reality. Most people do the best they can; when/if tragedy strikes (for most people, life IS pay check to pay check), they deal with it as best they can.
Commoner
February 23rd, 2011
7:47 pm
Here go our politicians again! Another proposal without thought! I know students who have 3.5,3.6 GPAs in all AP classes,which means they will probably test out of freshman Math and English. Most of the above have SAT scores that range from 1600 to 1800 on average. Based on Deal’s deal they will get a reduction in Hope;whereas a student who takes courses with much less rigor and makes a 3.7 will be rewarded for being average students taking average courses. So much for rewarding our best and brightest. CONTACT DEAL TODAY-I DID!
ScienceTeacher671
February 23rd, 2011
7:57 pm
1. The first thing they should have done is mandated the GLC to pay the full percentage into education. I can’t find that in the bill.
2. Rather than cutting the hours for Pre-K, a sliding-scale tuition should have been implemented.
3. I don’t think students at private colleges should get HOPE. I say this as someone who attended a private university – on a full scholarship granted by that university.
4. It doesn’t hurt to have to work to pay for some of your college. It would be nice if there were still schools that operated as Berry College used to, however. “Back in the day,” all the students had to work their way through, and Georgia ended up with some very good educators and business leaders as a result.
5. The list of “rigorous courses” is on page 23 of the bill.
Allen
February 23rd, 2011
8:39 pm
Hmm . .. we have 1. a preponderance of for profit colleges in Georgia 2. a need by those colleges for HOPE money 3. new rules that require a minmimum GPA to maintain that income at 100% and 4. reliance on those $-needing colleges to certify that students are meeting that minimum GPA
What could possibly go wrong?
amazed
February 23rd, 2011
8:44 pm
$400 can make or break a budget, but students can get loans. They can work. They can go to a less expensive school. There are options. Georgia’s HOPE lite still makes college much more accessible than it is in other states. That’s a good thing, but it doesn’t need to make it free.
Gail
February 23rd, 2011
9:10 pm
Thanks UGA grad and parent for pointing out that tuition has increased much higher than the rate of inflation over the past several years.(mainly since the HOPE scholarship has been around.)
I too am a UGA grad and looked back at my financial records. Here are some further comparisons for people who say “get a job, get a scholarship, I didn’t have any help etc.” These numbers do not include books, housing, food and living expenses.
FOUR years UGA in-state tuition and fees 1980-1984 in 2011 dollars = about $9,700
ONE year UGA in-state tuition and fees 2010-2011 = $8,736
Amy
February 23rd, 2011
9:10 pm
With rules changing midstream, it would only seem right that the current college students should be given at least 2-3 semesters to meet the demands of the higher GPA of 3.5 in order to keep what they have already earned. For students who selected to attend a private school in the state of Georgia, I feel that the money for HOPE has been a gift and should not be awarded to those students at all. Not funding students at private colleges would increase the amount of money available to students who selected to attend public institutions in Georgia.
In fact, if the rules had been changed midstream for our new Governor to pay back his million dollar loans, would he have been able to do so immediately? I believe his deadlines were changed to a later date in order to ease his burden. How fortunate for him. Maybe he should consider doing the same for the college students who have chosen to stay in state for their education.
mcc
February 23rd, 2011
9:20 pm
I’m guessing since Gov. Deal won the election easily, many of you complaining on this blog complaining about these cuts probably voted for a Republican governor (as well as legislators). Congratulations – you got what you voted for!!
The hypocrisy of the people in this state never ceases to amaze me – your party wants to get rid of public entitlements, just as long as it doesn’t affect YOUR entitlements.
You want a top education for your children, yet choose to vote for party that values business tax breaks over funding education.
But I guess I’m just one of those grossly overpaid, over-indulged “bad teachers” you love to complain about!
Ashley
February 23rd, 2011
9:34 pm
I was in high-school from 1972-1976, things were different back , if kids wanted something they worked for it. For some strange reason teenagers were more independent, they liked having summer and after school jobs. ,as a matter of fact most kids didn’t hang around in the mall unless they work there. Being from Huntsville,Alabama I worked for NASA during the summer starting when I was in 10th grade and every summer until I graduated high-school, I also worked part-time tutoring summer school student, not to mention working at NASA when I wasn’t at the UAH. I received two partial scholarship and a BOEG , which is similar to a Pell grant. Being 18 meant I was an adult and it was time for me to take responsibility for my own education and life, no parents to fall back on , my home life was never a happy one anyway. The point I’m trying to make is college is really expensive and their are sacrifices that have to be made. I humbly agree with @amazed nothing is free nor should it be. 3.87gpa, 27 ACT and 1100 /1600 in 1976 was excellent in 1976 , but there was always someone who was better, at least I received a slice of the pie.
Economic Laws
February 23rd, 2011
9:39 pm
DeKalb parent – It might be nice to want to inspire the best and the brightest to want to be teachers in government schools, but the truth is that students who enter teacher education programs score the third lowest on SAT scores of any group. The next lowest is education administration majors.
The statistics have been the same for a long time. Teachers are among the lowest scoring students on standardized tests and GPA’s. The bright ones do become teachers, but at private schools where they know their performance will be rewarded, not condemned, and where parental involvement is achieved by making parents financially responsible for their children’s education rather than socializing the costs and putting the parenting burden on the teachers and the education system.
Caroline
February 23rd, 2011
9:45 pm
I don’t understand why so many commenters are against giving lottery money for Georgia students attending private schools. For every Georgia student who attends a public college or university, we as taxpayers supplement their tuition with about $9,000 to $10,000 in taxpayer money. With the cuts being made to public college education, I would think maintaining the HOPE at its current level for private students might entice a student to choose a private rather than public college, thus saving taxpayers a significant amount of money because that student chose private or public.
Equitas
February 23rd, 2011
9:50 pm
If the purpose of the HOPE Scholarship is to entice deserving
Georgia students to choose universities within the state and
pursue careers statewide, Why should it matter if a set funding
level is spent publicly, or privately? Why do certain individuals
expect other people to subsidize their child’s university education
while being so quick to exclude other students from receiving the
same benefit?
Caroline
February 23rd, 2011
9:58 pm
My last sentence should have ended with “private OVER public.”
ScienceTeacher671
February 23rd, 2011
10:08 pm
@Economic Laws – it’s been postulated that one reason Teach for America teachers are so effective is that they are among “the best and the brightest”. Apparently there are studies correlating teacher SAT scores with teacher effectiveness.
So tell me why we would want mediocre to poor students teaching science and math?
not your momma
February 23rd, 2011
11:17 pm
Tennessee’s HOPE Scholarship has a base award for eligible students and an “add-on” called the Aspire Award for students whose family has an adjusted gross income of $36,000 or less in the previous tax year. This seems like an appropriate division given that Pell covers less of a student’s cost of education these days.
The girl who attends the private school
February 24th, 2011
1:32 am
Well, I’m the one who wrote in the email. Its interesting reading peoples sides to my own situation and about private schools funding. I guess I should state that when it says I have financial aid that means I do have a full pell grant. I didnt choose a private school because I felt that I could do better then a community college. But when the community college in my area is overflowing and you cannot get classes what else do you do? I went to the best school in my area that I could get into. I live at home. I drive 20 minutes to classes everyday. Its troubling that people see me as being entitled. I simply was stating that I by cutting costs to private institutions in our state will hurt the students greatly. $400 is a big chunk to be taken away from my tuition without even considering my GPA. I’m just trying to get the best education I can and by HOPE being cut it could prevent a lot of people from attending college. This was never the sole purpose of the HOPE scholarship. It was meant to help students flourish. Its frustrating to watch people attack one another’s opinions on the issue, but when money is at stake what do you expect? Anyway, I just gave my two cents. And state that I went to a private school because it was the best in my area that I could get into with my GPA coming out of high school that wasn’t already overflowing in students. So, its not that I chose the expensive one. I chose the right one for me at the time.
Ty Wood
February 24th, 2011
2:18 am
Good Lord. I understand the debate over the issue, but attacking this particular student? Kind of lame. I hope we’re all aware that these quotes are edited for size and content? For all we know there were extra details in this student’s life, such as making only ok grades despite her best efforts. She might have been aspiring to do something that requires a lot of money to get a good education, e.g. engineering, music, medicine. When we read articles like this one we make necessary assumptions to make a coherent picture. Somehow or other we’ve made the assumption that this student irrationally decided to attend a Private School or nothing else. Why is this theory assumed before we even contemplate the possibility that UGA couldn’t work for her? Perhaps there was something offered by attending a private school, whether in general or at a specific institution, that she could not get at a public one? Maybe she is as handicapped as her mother, who knows. I just believe it is a shallow, poorly-considered assault if we choose to condemn this girl without knowing her circumstances.
Ty Wood
February 24th, 2011
2:20 am
Just saw the response by the girl in question. Hope I didn’t sound repetitive or anything, but I think we support each other’s points.
another comment
February 24th, 2011
3:46 am
People in this state are so ignorant. It costs less to give the Hope Scholarship to Private College Students, than those attending a Public College. First you need to compare apples to apples the Out of State Public School Tuition to the $4,000 which is what the Board of Regents claims is the cost of Education.
The real Elephant in the room is the Hope Grant to GED receipants for up to 63 semesters. The Hope Grants need to end. The busing needs to end to Pre-K. Somehow it did not exist to the Private Pre-K I sent my daughter to in a middle class neighborhood. There also was no free lunch there either. When that Pre-K closed due to “Mold” in the middle of the year when my second daughter attended, I first heard about the free lunch for pre-K. I am also now suspicous about all the busses that come to the Cobb county elementary schools from some daycare centers. Why would anyone keep their kids in Daycare, when the ASP is only $7 per day or $35 per week. What sort of Free Day care are some people getting????
A Student Who Needs to Shed Light
February 24th, 2011
9:53 am
For some reason I think many of the commentors have forgotten the notion of equality and how that includes school choice. If one wishes to attend a private university he or she should have that option. The manner in which equality plays a role is that being hindered due to one’s income eliminates an educational opportunity, hence a lack of equality. This is not a new notion.
Speaking as a college student, I know that school choice is imperative. Not necessarily because of the name on your diploma but because of networking opportunities, living alumni, and not to mention that it is the place where you foster relationships that may define you for years to come. I am not saying that community college is bad. If that is the place for you then so be it. If a public university is the place for you then so be it. If a private university is the place for you then so be it.
College is more than an academic education it is a time of growth and environment plays a large role in that. We should not be trying to penalize the student for his/her school choice. We should be happy that he or she is in school and has a great G.P.A. As a dance captain, mentor, Residential Advisor, and a student I can attest to the fact that getting an A and keeping it is a difficult task. Throwing in a full or part time job with that can definately affect one’s grades. Students do not just sit in there rooms and study all day they have other extracirrular commitments. One is still learning the value of hardwork, gaining people skills, and many other skills as well from these activities. Why force the added stress of finance if it is not necessary?
We should not be attacking students for their school choice. We should be coming up with solutions to help our youth be successful. By the way I do not have a bias for private schools. I am a proud attender of a public university.
Mercer
February 24th, 2011
11:40 am
Don’t quote me on this but, I think Deal graduated from Mercer University…. so I don’t see Hope going away for private schools anytime soon. Plus not everyone who goes to a private university is loaded. I am a working adult and the schedule they had at the school fit my working schedule. So I am working, taking out loans and going to college. If the person wants to go to college they will find a way to go. Besides not everyone is made for college anyway!! Next topic…
Scott Smith
February 24th, 2011
11:44 am
I feel for those who think they won’t be able to continue at a private college. I am the head of a double income family and am having to tell my high school senior she can’ t attend a private college at all because we can’t make up the difference even before the proposed cuts. The answer to that problem is to attend the public college or university for which HOPE was originally intended and to be thankful the money for college is there at all.
The original fight over the lottery was very nasty but, in the end, the people of the state did the right thing and we are seeing the benefits every day in Georgia. For many students, regardless of GPA, without HOPE, there would be no college at all. Think about that while you wring your hands about a private college.
What's best for kids?
February 24th, 2011
2:28 pm
I’m a little wary of the shock of most people in the announcement of the HOPE cuts. If you followed the news at all, you would have seen this coming. Anyone who was there at the inceptio of HOPE should have seen this coming and started saving money for their kids’s education. The price of tuition skyrocketed at the HOPE cash cow. Fees more than quadrupled when HOPE was covering them.
Seriously, if we eliminated HOPE altogether, the tuition and fees would probably go down or at least stabalize.
I say shame on the parents who didn’t see this coming and prepare for it.
kwanza
February 25th, 2011
1:48 am
I think this scaling back of HOPE money is just one more reason to make a greater effort to ensure that children gain greater competency while they are still in primary and secondary school. I am working on a project that raises money for a group of Douglass High School juniors to get SAT and foreign language tutoring from Atlanta Tutors, a local service provider. Atlanta Tutors has been kind enough to offer their services for these students at a discount. Each hour of one-on-one tutoring is $50. These are great kids who want to do well and just need extra help to prepare them for scholarships and grants eligibility. If they receive enough instruction, perhaps they won’t need HOPE
Donations can be made on the Atlanta Tutors websites at https://atlantatutors.net/payments.php. Please write Essential2Life in the “student name” field so that this project (which works with Douglass High students from Essential2Life) can get credit. Any inquiries can be directed to Kwanza Fisher cultureofeducation@gmail.com.
Thank you and really, keep hope alive. In the meantime, support our kids so that they can be proficient and deserving of full-rides to the colleges of their choice!
Kwanza
kwanza
February 25th, 2011
1:50 am
By the way, 100% of proceeds go towards SAT and foreign language lessons.
Margaret
February 25th, 2011
7:50 am
No Jarvis, I’m not bitter. I graduated from an Ivy League college and I never for once had the mentality to get good grades just for the hope scholarship. I got good grades and got a scholarship for undergrad and then worked full-time while attending school full-time as a grad student. Both at private universities. It’s stupid that HOPE is only for public universities and if your child has the opportunity to go to a public versus Ivy League school, you will find the resources for the latter. The degree, in most circumstances, carries more weight. What I find appalling is when the recipients are given the choice to pay fees so as to not loose tuition and they complain.
QM4Life
February 25th, 2011
3:29 pm
Its funny too me how we put the weight of the world on kids from 12 – 18 …. I was so stupid at that age and I had two great adults in the home with me. I can not understand how people can agree with this, but Americans tend to pick up the 1st stone all the time – now.
Not PC
February 27th, 2011
2:34 pm
What good ole Roy forgets is that $150,000 in a state with some of the worst public schools in the nation doesn’t go very far when you have to pay for private school. I not only pay property taxes to send my children to public school, but I also pay to send them to private school. I insist that their education be taken seriously, and their grades and SAT scores reflect their hard work. The reason we don’t use the public schools is the lack of parental involvement and the welfare moms who park their kids there and don’t even bother to feed them breakfast, lunch or see that homework is done. Most don’t even show up for teacher conferences. There is no way that these children are prepared to go to the top universities in our state. I am sorry that this is the case, but they should look to their parents rather than the taxpayers, as to why this is. Unfortunately, with the welfare state that we have created, their parents will only be able to blame the government for their own and their childrens’ lack of success. As a healthcare worker, I see mother after mother giving birth to her 5th, 6th, 7th child by her mid twenties with absolutely no concern for how she will provide anything. Then, that same mother wants to know why she can’t “get ahead”. Duh! One of the few rewards that those of us forced to fund their stupidity receive is a decent college education in our state for children who have worked hard. If that reward is taken away and our good students flee to out-of-state schools, who will be left to foot the bill for the welfare mothers who continue to breed at an alarming rate and populate our public schools with unwanted, hopeless children?
BreannaL
February 28th, 2011
3:48 pm
First off, to the student, I understand your pain. I am a full time student at Georgia State. Tuition i going up there, so I know it is at a private institution. I feel that if thegovernment officials are going to take the GPA up, they should only raise it by a few points. If they would have realized that a 3.0 was easy to get, it should have been a 3.2 or something from the beginning. A drastic change in GPA puts way more pressure on us college students.It’s not as hard to maintain that high of a GPA in high school but in college its more stressful. Nathan Deal is no genius, his plan should have been more considerate and rational. Everyone cant run to the bank and take loans, so that shouldn’t be the first back up. By the way, the idiots who recommend taking time off, it’s one of the dumbest ideas ever. You should never take time off, it’s always more stressful trying to get back into school.