The future of the HOPE Scholarship in Georgia is going to be one of changes, but two Northwest Georgia Democrats don’t like the changes that passed the Georgia House on Tuesday.  State Representatives Barbara Massey Reece, (D-Menlo) and Rick Crawford, (D-Cedartown) were two of the twenty-two votes against the bill to reduce HOPE scholarship benefits yesterday.  The bill got the backing of the House Minority Leader, Stacy Abrams (D-Marrietta), but some Democrats said that the changes were being pushed through to quickly.

At issue is the fact that HOPE is running out of money fast, and changes to the program are going to have to come in order to keep the HOPE scholarship around.  The changes passed yesterday by the Georgia House would cut the scholarships to 90 percent for all but the brightest students and eliminate paying for books, fees and remedial classes. Students graduating high school with a 3.7 GPA and at least a 1200 on the SAT can get full tuition, but the rest will get about 90 percent of their current awards.The plan would also trim HOPE for students attending private colleges in Georgia from $4,000 to $3,600.

Students whose grades slip while in college would have only one chance to win the scholarship back. High school students would need to take more rigorous classes to qualify for HOPE. And technical college students who receive HOPE grants would for the first time need to demonstrate they are earning good grades.