The problem with the HOPE Scholarship and Georgia pre-kindergarten program, said Cedartown Democrat Rep. Rick Crawford, is the state is burning through the money quicker than it’s coming in — officials have already been forced to dip into the reserve funds and at the current pace the accounts will be empty by 2013.

The problem with the current bill in the Republican-led state House of Representatives, he told a small crowd assembled for a public forum at Georgia Highlands College on Monday night, is that it’s being pushed through so quickly that neither the public nor lawmakers have had a chance to make their opinions known.

Crawford and Rep. Barbara Massey Reece, D-Menlo, organized the event Monday evening to hear the concerns of area students, parents and educators.

The HOPE changes, as proposed by Gov. Nathan Deal, would require graduating high school students to have a 3.7 grade point average and a 1200 on the SAT to receive full funding. Those who have a lower GPA or SAT score would receive 90 percent of the previous year’s tuition in the fall, but that percentage could change year to year depending on lottery revenues and regardless of tuition changes.

In theory, said Reece, HOPE could pay 80 percent two years from now and tuition could jump 20 percent.

“This would make it very difficult for families to plan,” she said. “It would make it much more difficult for students and parents to plan how much money they are going to need.”

Read more: RN-T.com – Democrats share HOPE concerns