Petition for Public Education
HB326, Nathan Deal's purposed tax cuts, recently passed the Georgia
House and Senate.
This signifies the beginning of the end of the
HOPE scholarship. The only people receiving full HOPE aid will be those
who graduate from high school with at least a 3.7 GPA and 1200 SAT
score. These changes will push thousands of young people out of public
colleges, particularly students of color and students from low income
families.
• The new SAT requirements ensure that low income folk,
especially people of color, will have much less access to hope. The SAT
test is proven to be culturally biased. We also know that high income
families can afford expensive SAT classes that regular working families
cannot. Demanding a 1200 SAT course to qualify for HOPE will guarantee
that those who need HOPE the most will have the hardest time getting it.
•
HB 326 will price out low income folks. No question about it. The
change in book fees alone will price out anyone that struggles to keep
food on the table and electricity in the house. It would seem that this
bill, by design, disenfranchises low income folks, especially people of
color.
• We are not fooled; HB 326 DOES NOT save hope. HB 326
dismantles HOPE. We keep hearing folks say that 90% of hope will be
available to students with a 3.0 or above. Not true. Nathan Deal himself
admitted that that number is likely closer to 80% and that as soon as
next year it could go down to 60%. The HOPE scholarship was certainly
savable, the question is whether or not Georgia legislators are willing
to make it a priority or not. They were not.
We petition for an
end to the state's attack on students and low income folk. Education
should be the last place lawmakers go to cut budgets, not the first!
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