CALL NOW TO SAVE HOPE!!!!

ALL THE CALLS OVER THE WEEKEND HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE!

Yesterday Governor Deal restored the pre-k(though he did still cut several weeks off the year). We have also heard rumblings from the hall of Senate, THIS BILL MIGHT NOT HAVE ENOUGH VOTES TO PASS! Last night governor Deal wined and dined members of the senate in an effort to win support.



TODAY WE NEED YOU TO MAKE A CALL TO YOUR SENATOR!

WE NEED YOU TO HAVE YOUR NEIGHBOR, CO-WORKER, SPOUSE, UNCLE, EVERYONE CALL!

WILL YOU MAKE THE CALL!




TODAY is a crucial day for Georgia as a bill that would deliver massive blows to Georgia's public education system is going to be voted on in the senate. It has already passed in the House and passed through the Senate Higher Education Committee--it will most likely be voted on on TODAY. We're calling on all Georgia residents to make a quick phone call to their state senator. This bill has been rushing through the legislature, and it's critical that the members of this committee hear the voices of the public as they consider which path to take.

This bill 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 would push tons of young people out of public colleges, particularly students of color and students from low income families. Our office has fielded dozens of calls, countless emails, and several personal visits for students and parents who will be priced out of an education if this bill passes.

CAN YOU HELP SAVE HOPE?

We need you to call your state senator and ask them to vote NO. To find your senator's contact info, you can go to congress.org and type your zip code into the box on the right. (If necessary, you can then enter your full address if there multiple senators for your zip code). If you click on the senator's name, you will see a tab that says "contact": this will have their phone number. Take a few minutes to call. All the talking points you need are included below.

An idea of what to say:
"Hi my name is ______________. I'm a constituent of Senator _______, and I'm a __________ (worker, student, parent, etc). I'm calling in opposition to HB 326, the bill to cut funds for the HOPE scholarship. This bill will price out working families who are already struggling. Students and young people did not cause the financial crisis, and they should not have to pay for it."


JOIN US AT THE CAPITOL
Today join students on the steps of the Capitol as they demand the Senate kill HB326

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Tim Franzen 404-414-5521.


TALKING POINTS:



This is a crisis of priority, not resources. We know that there have been several sound proposals that would have kept the HOPE scholarship intact. They were all rejected in favor of dismantling one of the few education programs that provides real opportunity to hard working regular folks. We find it a cruel irony that the military and prison industrial complex drain the majority of our state and national resources, but education is the first place politicians go for cuts.



Under HB 326 once a student loses HOPE, they can never get it back. No matter how well a student does once they less HOPE they lose it forever. HB 326 also takes effect immediately. Current students will have the rug pulled out from under them.

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 is certainly savable, the question is whether or not Georgia legislators are willing to make it a priority or not.

The Hope scholarship is wildly popular. We will be paying attention to who’s voting to dismantle it. We hope our elected officials remember who they’re here to represent. There will be another election.


Tim Franzen

American Friends Service Committee

404-414-5521

Last Minute PUSH to Save HOPE!!

Tonight our office has been like a bee hive filled with busy bees! Last minute phone calls and e-mails being sent out, discussion on logistical information on tomorrow's press conference, speeches being written and practiced by youth, and of course the huge work of sifting and separating ALL of the failing grade postcards that have been collected over the last six months.

We also had several committed Dekalb County mothers, Kim Ault, Annette Jackson, and Latasha Walker, passing out fliers and getting report cards signed all week at churches and board of education meetings.

I'm happy to say that we have a nice stack of fail report cards for EVERY Senator in Georgia. I'm also excited to say that we have some pretty dynamic young people that are excited about speaking at the capitol tomorrow. We hope YOU will stand with us as we deliver thousands of failing grades to the Georgia Senate for making public education the first stop for budget cuts.

If the dismantling of HOPE moves forward it will literally price out low income folks and the new SAT requirements ensure that non-whites will have even less access to higher education as the SAT is proven to be culturally bias.

We want to give a special thanks to Tamice Gates who worked for countless hours organizing massive amounts of postcards. Tamice had to individually enter each cards address into congress.com to figure out which senator it needed to go to. Thanks Tamice!


Tim Franzen
American Friends Service Committee

Georgia Students Fight To Keep HOPE Alive

In an action initiated by Georgia Students for Public Higher Education, 250 college and high school students marched to the capital steps to demand a halt to Governor Deal's purposed cuts to the HOPE scholarship and pre-k programs funded by the Georgia lottery.

Students held banners that read, "Don't Defund Our Future", "Keep HOPE Alive", "Students Are Not ATMS", among others.

After the rally students stormed the capitol. After being told they could not hold signs or chant they proceeded to mark their messages on their bodies using sharpies, they stood their ground. Students attended the higher education Senate hearing on HOP/Pre-k hearing later in the day, many of them spoke to their concerns. At one point a dozen cops attempted to walk out several of the students at which point Senator Vincent Fort hoped up and told police that if they were arresting anybody then they should start with him.

Deals cuts include:

Deal’s cuts include the following:

• Students earning at least a 3.0 will see the HOPE scholarship cover 90 percent of current fiscal year 2011 tuition rates.
• Students with at least a 3.7 GPA and 1200 SAT or 26 on ACT will get full tuition at public colleges and $4,000 to private colleges (this will be called the “Zell Miller Scholarship”). Students will need to maintain a 3.5 to keep the scholarship.
• Ties future scholarship amounts to lottery revenue, not tuition rates.
• Cuts private college award from $4,000 to $3,600.
• Eliminates money for books or mandatory fees.
• Caps payout to 127 hours for HOPE scholarship and 63 semesters for the HOPE grant. Students will a post-secondary degree will be ineligible for the technical grant.
• Requires high school students to take “rigorous” classes to qualify for HOPE. This will begin this fall with incoming high school freshmen.
• A decrease from six to four hours pre-k days

It's pretty clear that these cuts will hurt low income families more than anyone. We are already being flooded with calls from parents that know their children will be priced out of a college education. It seem the only ones that are understanding of the cuts are those that can find a way to pay for the price increase.

When your choice is food/heat or an education harsh realities begin to set in.


Our society seems to have no problem over spending when it comes to the systems of violence and oppression that create the largest tax burdens we face, and produce bleak outcomes for our future. 59% of our federal budget goes to the military industrial complex and on a state level the mass incarceration of non-violent drug offenders has placed tax payers in a position where we spend a significant amount more on each prisoner then we do each student. This despite the fact that the treatment of addiction has overwhelmingly been proven cheaper and much more effective.

What I keep reading in the mainstream press, and even hearing on the street, is that there doesn't seem to be any other option. Governor Deal has attempted to paint himself as the savior of HOPE. Pricing out poor folks isn't the only option. I've heard several ideas pitched to save hope. I personally have pitched ideas to Georgia legislators, Jason Carter has put out alternative ideas. Some of the better ones I've heard are:

• A $1. tax on cigarettes to education
• Decriminalization of Marijuana
  
• Wider use of the drug court system with DOC savings going to HOPE/Pre-k
• A 1% tax increase on the richest 5%
• An end to corporate tax breaks and welfare

There are more ideas out there, most of them are better then Governor Deal's proposal which I can sum up pretty quickly: Let the poor suffer the consequences of the rich.

Young people did not cause this crisis, they should not have to pay for it.

High school students are planning their own press convergence at the capitol this Monday at 4:30pm, spread the word!

Some of the press coverage from today's action:

http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/students-protest-hope-cuts-858190.html

http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/local_news/Students-to-Protest-Cuts-in-HOPE-Scholarship-20110302-am-sd

http://www.gpb.org/news/2011/03/02/students-protest-hope-cuts

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/27049289/detail.html

http://www.11alive.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=180355&catid=3

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/27053750/detail.html

http://www.macon.com/2011/03/02/1471254/students-rally-at-capitol-to-protest.html

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/27049289/detail.html



Tim Franzen
American Friends Service Committee

Atlanta Youth Grasp Organizing Tools

AFSC's pilot curriculum is in it's seventh week at Horizon's school and so far the experiment is going very well. This past week we meet with the whole student body and reviewed ways in which social justice organizations have used different art mediums have to create dialogue in the Atlanta community in the last month or so.

We also had Caitlin Barrow spend a few moments sharing her experience organizing against the Iraq war in Glynn County Georgia when she was in high school. Caitlin talked about what inspired her to get active,the challenges of organizing in rural Georgia, and the impact her high school activism has had on her life.

We spent the rest of the morning split up into working groups that the students helped to form around issues that they wanted to address in their communities. There were groups devoted to addressing education budget cuts, skateboarders rights, violence in the community, gay marriage, and the price of fossil fuels on our globe. Me, Caitlin, and Josie Figueroa went from group to group to help facilitate the process of campaign development.

Each group presented their ideas after we re-grouped and I have to say that I'm pretty excited what come of all this! Next week we'll be pairing each group with a young Atlanta organizer to help each group get a stronger focus, time-line, and a solid idea about need and resources available.


Tim Franzen
American Friends Service Committee