Gov. Sonny Perdue gave his full support Friday to a state
commission's recommendations aimed at preserving the HOPE scholarship and saving
the program nearly $1 billion in the next five years.
And the governor said he would continue pushing his proposal to require a
minimum SAT score for a full HOPE scholarship, which students now earn solely by
having a B grade average. The HOPE Scholarship Joint Study Commission did not
include the SAT plan as one of its formal recommendations this week, but listed
it as an option for the future.
"It would help us raise our SAT scores in this state, it would help us
achieve better education for our students. . . . I can't see the down side in
it," Perdue said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I am
serious about it."
Perdue made his comments the day after the HOPE commission of state
legislators, students, parents and educators approved a series of
recommendations designed to keep the program solvent into the future. The
Legislature will debate the recommendations when it convenes in January.
Burdened by rising tuition and enrollment, HOPE and Georgia's lottery-funded
pre-kindergarten program are projected to begin dipping into financial reserves
in the 2006-07 budget year. The programs would sink $434 million into debt two
years later, according to state projections.
The governor called the recommendations from the commission "right on target.
I think they've done a great job."
The Republican governor's endorsement likely will help build support for the
recommendation among GOP lawmakers, who run the Senate and hold a substantial
minority in the House. Democrats, who created the scholarship when they
controlled the statehouse, have been more cautious.
"The proposals of the joint commission are just recommendations, not law, and
any suggested changes to HOPE will be explored further during the upcoming
budget process," said House Speaker Terry Coleman (D-Eastman). "The impact of
these recommendations on Georgia's students and families will be carefully
measured before any changes are enacted."
Currently, under the decade-old HOPE college scholarship program, students
with a B average or higher receive full tuition, mandatory fees and money for
books to attend a Georgia public college. Technical school students also are
eligible, and students at Georgia private colleges can receive a $3,000 annual
grant.
The commission reached consensus on eliminating the fee and book subsidy
starting next fall, meaning many HOPE scholars would have to come up with more
than $1,000 more per year.
The commission also supports kicking poor-performing college students off the
scholarship faster, and using the 3.0 grade-point average standard used by
colleges for a B average to decide whether high school students have the grades
necessary to get a HOPE scholarship. About a third of HOPE scholars entering
Georgia's public universities do not have a standard 3.0 GPA, according to state
estimates.
Perdue also wants the state to require high schoolers to score a minimum 900
on the SAT, along with the B average, to earn a full scholarship. Students
without the 900 would get a scholarship for one semester, then lose it if they
didn't maintain a B average in college.
The governor thinks it would provide an incentive for students to do well on
the SAT. Georgia's average score --- 984 out of 1600 --- ranks last among the 50
states.
"It's not about money, it's about the aspiration of SAT achievement in our
state, because we are better than last on the SAT, and I want to, by golly,
demonstrate that," he said.
However, some legislators fear adding the SAT --- combined with using the 3.0
grade point average --- would keep thousands of students from getting the award,
many of them black or from rural areas.
"From what I can tell from both Democrat and Republican members, there is
reluctance to do that," said House Speaker Pro tempore DuBose Porter (D-Dublin).
Perdue said he is optimistic lawmakers will take action to save HOPE.
"The Legislature understands that in order to save HOPE, we've got to take
action now," the governor said. "If the legislators don't realize that, they
have their heads in the sand and they are doing a great disservice to Georgia
and the students if they don't take the action that needs to be taken to
preserve HOPE for the future."