The prospect that the state HOPE commission, in its final
meeting today, will push to toughen scholarship requirements by redefining the B
average drew mixed marks Wednesday.
The proposed change --- which could cut down the number of students receiving
the college scholarship in the future by as much as a third --- drew sharp
criticism from people who say it would shut out many high schoolers who earn
mostly good grades.
Ed Wyrick, a counselor at Jackson County High School, said using a 3.0 mark
on a 4.0 grading scale instead of the current 80 percent to define a B average
for HOPE eligibility will confuse parents and penalize students.
"It just seems ridiculous," Wyrick said. "I can't see the public tolerating
that kind of change."
David Lee, the director of research at the state agency that administers
HOPE, said the tougher definition of a B average will bring incoming freshmen in
line with college sophomores, juniors and seniors who have to maintain a 3.0 to
keep their HOPE scholarship.
For example, a high school student could have four Bs and a C and still be
eligible for a HOPE scholarship under the current requirements. That student
would not be eligible under the proposed change.
"We are talking about something that is already done at the college level,"
said Lee, of the Georgia Student Finance Commission. "No matter where you draw
the line, there are always students that will just barely miss the cutoff."
The state commission charged with suggesting money-saving changes to HOPE is
expected to recommend the GPA adjustment and a plan to cut out payments for
books and mandatory fees at its meeting today. The panel will send its
recommendations to the Legislature, which will ultimately be responsible for
changing HOPE, in January. Any changes to eligibility would be phased in over a
few years.
Inclusiveness is costly
If spending is not cut, HOPE and Georgia's other lottery-funded educational
program --- free pre-kindergarten --- are projected to begin dipping into their
reserves to pay expenses in the 2006-07 budget year. The programs would sink
$434 million into debt two years later, according to those projections.
State calculations show that if a 3.0 GPA requirement were already in place,
about 45 percent of African-American students and 30 percent of white students
currently receiving the scholarship would not have been eligible for their first
year of college.
Amelia Davis, principal at Tri-Cities High School in East Point, said the
proposed GPA change would mean far fewer students at her predominantly black
school will qualify for a college scholarship.
"With the large population of kids that I have coming from low socio-economic
backgrounds, it would be a tremendous setback," she said.
Davis said she's worried the 3.0 cutoff will scare more students away from
taking challenging honors or advanced placement classes. Too many students now
shy away from tough classes because they don't think they can get good enough
grades to meet the current HOPE requirements, she said.
"I think the whole shebang is not fair to kids, because the government that's
making all these rules does not have the slightest idea as to what actually
happens in schools," she said.
Change needs approval
Standardizing the grading system would have to be approved by the state
Legislature. Any immediate changes to HOPE may be difficult because lawmakers
have generally been nervous about changing the popular program in an election
year.
There is already a strong partisan split, for instance, over Republican Gov.
Sonny Perdue's proposal to require a minimum SAT score in order to receive a
full HOPE scholarship. Republicans have voiced support for the plan, while
Democratic leaders have opposed it.
However, Lt. Gov. Mark Taylor, a Democrat, likes the idea of using the
standard 3.0 to determine whether a student should get a HOPE scholarship.
"Because of the evident inconsistency with the B average, making a 3.0 the
statewide standard is a much more fair, reasonable and logical step than an SAT
link," Taylor said. "It simply makes more sense."
If a 1000 SAT score had been included in HOPE requirements in fall 2000,
about two-thirds of African-American college freshmen who received the
scholarship and a third of whites would not have been eligible.
John Macikowski, a Gwinnett County parent, suggests that tying HOPE
eligibility to a strengthened GPA standard will not do anything to discourage
grade inflation.
"You have some high schools that grade absolutely easy, and some high schools
where it's tough," he said.
The state should try to determine which students are most likely to do well
in college, he said, then revise the HOPE eligibility to accommodate them.
Revising the standard to a 3.0 GPA will not address the biggest problem --- that
grades differ across teachers, schools and systems, he said.
"A 'B' is not a 'B,' " Macikowski said. "It's very subjective."
--- Staff writers Paul Donsky, Patti Ghezzi, James Salzer and Mary MacDonald
contributed to this article.
AJC.COM
> Check out the AJC's three-day examination of the enormously popular
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scholarship.
The HOPE GPA is based on core courses:
four in math, four in English, three in science, three in social studies and two
in a foreign language. Eighth-grade algebra also can count toward HOPE
eligibility. School districts currently submit numeric averages rather than GPAs
and an 80 percent overall average is required. Here's a look at three examples
who are currently HOPE eligible under the 80 percent requirement. Under the
proposal to change to a 3.0 requirement, two of these would no longer be
eligible:
HOPE GPA CONVERSION
AVERAGES.....GPA
90-100% ---->
4
80-89% -----> 3
71-79% -----> 2
.... Core class.... EXAMPLE
CHILD #1
......categories....Averages..GPA
............Math....89%.......3.0
........
English....89%.......3.0
..Social studies....89%.......3.0
........
Science....79%.......2.0
Foreign language....89%.......3.0
.. TOTAL
AVERAGE....87%.......2.8
.... Eligibility....Yes.......No
.... Core
class.... EXAMPLE CHILD #2..EXAMPLE CHILD
#3
......categories....Averages..GPA......Averages..GPA
............Math....82%.......3.0......75%.......2.0
........
English....82%.......3.0......75%.......2.0
..Social
studies....82%.......3.0......78%.......2.0
........
Science....82%.......3.0......78%.......2.0
Foreign
language....82%.......3.0......95%.......4.0
.. TOTAL
AVERAGE....82%.......3.0......80%.......2.4
....
Eligibility....Yes.......Yes......Yes.......No
Sources: Georgia Student
Finance Commission, Board of Regents
/ CHUCK BLEVINS / Staff
QUALIFIED
--- FOR NOW
Freshman HOPE scholars enttering Georgia's public universities
with a GPA below 3.0
By
race
African-American..............1,747....44.4%
White.........................4,483....29.7%
All
other.......................408....24.2%
By type of institution
Research
universities*..........600.... 9.1%
Regional universities........
1,304....40.1%
State universities............2,630....40.1%
State
colleges..................352....50.7%
Two-year colleges............
3,583....48.9
Total........................ 6,638....32.1%
*Georgia's
research universities are UGA, Georgia Tech, Georgia State and the Medical
College of Georgia.
Source: University System of Georgia report, September
2003.
WANT TO GO?
The state HOPE commission will hold its final
meeting today from 10 a.m. though 3 p.m. at the State Capitol, Room 403. The
meeting is open to the public.