Ed Wood "The Right Stuff" Published July 31, 2002

HOPE or hopeless?

HOPE. That's the name given to the scholarship program promised to the people of Georgia if they would approve a state-run lottery. (The letters probably stand for something cute, but I forget what.) The deal was that lottery proceeds would be used to provide free college tuition, books, etc., to any Georgia high school graduate with a grade average of B or better. Gone was the customary SAT minimum. Good thing, too, because Georgia ranks second from the bottom in SAT college entry scores.

Well, it didn't take a rocket scientist to predict what would happen. What self-respecting high school teacher would want it known that he or she did not produce HOPE-earning graduates? So immediately almost everybody became a B student, and enrollment eligibility skyrocketed beyond anyone's wildest estimates.

A recent article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution looks back at the programs eight-year history: During this period the annual cost of HOPE scholarships has multiplied 10-fold, from $21.4 million in 1993 to $227.2 million last year. Today, nearly a third of all Georgia college students are on HOPE scholarships. But a report issued by the Georgia Student Finance Commission revealed that 64 percent of the HOPE recipients flunked out after their freshman year, and only 31 percent kept their scholarships through their fourth year.

And of course, the lottery program can no longer come up with the money. So University System Chancellor Tom Meredith has announced that HOPE scholarship expenses will have to be paid from the state's general tax fund.

Yes, there are parallels and lessons to be learned for us here in Tennessee. The Georgia lottery question was linked to the election of Democrat Governor (now Senator) Zell Miller. Amazingly, the Tennessee lottery question will appear on the ballot next to our choice for governor in this fall's election. And like TennCare, HOPE was represented as a "freebie" benefit that would save taxpayers money and provide a better quality of life for all the citizens of the state. And like TennCare, it has turned into another run-away bureaucratic boondoggle, dragging the state's finances down its ever-expanding rat-hole.

With what hope is left, may we realize in time that there are no free lunches. No free HOPE tuitions. No free TennCare benefits. Sooner or later, it all comes out of taxpayer pockets.

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Ed Wood is a resident of Sparta, TN. His column is published each Wednesday in the Crossville Chronicle.