The Voice

Most of you probably watched the State of the Union address on television this week, or you at least heard some of Bush’s sound bites on the radio. However, what you might not have seen or heard was Governor Sonny Perdue’s State of the State.
One of the subjects Gov. Perdue spoke about was something very important to college kids all over the state: the HOPE Scholarship. We’ve all wondered if we had seen the last of the HOPE Scholarship, due to all of the press pledging that the funds for the grants would soon run dry. Yet, Perdue vows that the HOPE Scholarship will be there “for your kids and your grandkids and beyond.”
During the 45 minute speech, Governor Perdue promised that no single B student would be denied the HOPE Scholarship, yet SAT standards would also have to be implemented.
The Democrats guarantee they will fight Perdue’s new version of the HOPE Scholarship, as they believe the SAT requirement places certain people at a disadvantage.
Before a joint session of the General Assembly, Gov. Perdue enumerated his plans for the upcoming year, which also includes a 2% raise for teachers across the state. Here at the Colonnade, we believe this may increase the quality of education across the state more effectively than simply demanding that students earn a higher score on a test. If teachers earn more money, the state will attract more qualified teachers to educate the state’s children.
The staff at The Colonnade would like to show our support for Gov. Perdue for shining a spotlight on Georgia’s education problems. Yet, we must make sure we are seeking ways to better the education system, and not merely making attaining an education more difficult.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Jan 16 2004. Filed under Our Voice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry