HOPE(n) Thread

So, I was suitably scolded for not including the proposed cuts to Georgia’s HOPE scholarship in yesterday’s Open Thread.

HOPE facing deep cuts.

Democrats to support changes in HOPE scholarship.

Pre-K would be cut from 6.5 to 4 hours per day (that’s over 38%)

So, what might all this mean?  Good? Bad? Is this just the beginning of cuts, or will these changes be enough to save HOPE?


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13 responses to “HOPE(n) Thread”

  1. Jen B. Avatar
    Jen B.

    Democrats should push THAT idea.

  2. innerredneckexposed Avatar
    innerredneckexposed

    Not just you.

  3. Jen B. Avatar
    Jen B.

    Is anyone else in favor of getting rid of the $4000 for private schools or.. is it just me?

  4. Zaid Avatar

    By popular request: BREAKING: Georgian state legislature negotiators arrive in middle east, tell protesters to stop demonstrating and just try to ask dictators for things nicely.

    Tomorrow, the entire nation will be protesting against the right wing assault on the middle class. What will Georgia be doing? We have no opposition party. We have a co-opted party.

  5. GAPolitico Avatar

    That is what we are doing. We are speaking out and letting them know that this proposal will not stand.

  6. Zaid Avatar

    The arguments that Dems are giving for supporting the HOPE cuts sounds like the ones Dems gave for backing the iraq war resolution but crappier.

  7. Steve Golden Avatar
    Steve Golden

    I’d agree that there is a failure here in messaging. But a failure of messaging is not a reason to advocate for long-time liberal Democratic lawmakers be primaried out in 2012.

    Why don’t we take our time and use it to talk to our fellow Democrats about what we want to see in a HOPE proposal, to ensure that those amendments are offered?

  8. GAPolitico Avatar

    At least Roy Barnes has the cajones to actually stand up and give the true democratic plan:

    http://gapolitico.com/?p=17542&cpage=1#comment-21913

  9. James Avatar
    James

    Well Hopefully Steve, everyone will have the connections with legislators and the GHDC that you have and will talk to them before they vote in fall 2012. Otherwise, the average person in Georgia is going to have no idea what the Democrats have done – an extreme failure on messaging.

  10. Steve Golden Avatar
    Steve Golden

    Mary, you make a very astute point. We all need to realize whose proposal this is, and that is where the blame should be. Democrats have been able to successfully neogtiate some of Deal’s worst ideas out of this budgetary proposal, but I think everyone (nobody more than Stacey Abrams) realizes that this is still a shoddy plan as it stands right now, and that there is far more work to be done. Unfortunately, drd, as I understand it through conversations with legislators and other GHDC insiders, this is far from what the GOP would have done without Democrats present; what we would have seen would have been abhorring at best.

    We have a long way to go, but I think we all know that people like Stacey and Stephanie are the last people you’d need to convince to, say, protect the HBCUs or lengthen the pre-K day. The people we still need to sway are those backwards Republicans who would rather go on a slashing rampage than consider alternative revenue streams.

    But, that being said, unless Democrats have a seat at the bargaining table– a “voice” in the matter– the Republicans will still do what they want to do.

  11. Mary C. Avatar
    Mary C.

    @drd…what the democrats really signed on to was a presence at the table to discuss this and be part of a bi-partisan effort. No One thinks this is a great solution. I certainly don’t. Remedial classes in Tech Schools ONLY…not very bright. That cap…way too high…effect on HBCU…outrageous. Oh, and Pre-K? ummm, no. Here’s the thing…Nobody gave up…or if someone has…it’s us…the democrats on the ground. Your Democratic Legislators need you to stand up…get the word out. Not just on this blog…in your community, call your GOP leadership in Atlanta. Raise a ruckus. And get used to doing that for the next four years. If our legislators can not count on the DPG to create groundswell and effect public sentiment…who is going to that job?

  12. Chris Avatar
    Chris

    On a previous thread someone suggested that the 1,200 SAT Score requirement might be for Reading+Writing+Math. It is my understanding it is the “old” score on just Reading+Math. I am pretty sure about this as it’s either get a 1,200 on the SAT (which would put you nationally in the 80th percentile) or a 26 on the ACT (which is pretty much equivalent – 84th percentile).

    I don’t think they mean 1,200 on the three tests.

    Bad, bad, bad.

  13. drd Avatar
    drd

    I can’t imagine why the Democrats signed on to this. What is the positive of it, politically or morally? It looks like exactly what the Republicans would have done on their own – protect the top end while sticking it to everyone else (including people who play the lottery the most).

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