Schools across the county are facing the some of the same problems, yet many of our politicians refuse to change anything, but at least some in Texas are trying.
Changes proposed to Texas Grant program
When state lawmakers created the popular Texas Grant financial aid program, the goal was to help poor students get to college and create a future for hundreds of thousands who could not afford a higher education on their own.
A decade later, trends show that about
half of those using the money don't graduate within six years. To improve those rates, two key lawmakers are now trying to
put the most academically accomplished of those students at the front of the line.
But
minority groups and the state senator who crafted Texas Grants worry that black and Latino students will get pushed to the back. They say those from the poorest neighborhoods could lose out.
"My fear is the people who get Texas Grants will be less diverse," said Sen. Rodney Ellis, a Houston
Democrat who championed the program in 1999.
Since its inception, the Texas Grant program has spent about
$2 billion on 310,000 students.
The program is now based mostly on financial need. High school students must graduate from the state's college prep curriculum and not have a felony or drug conviction, but
academic achievement is otherwise not a factor.
Grants typically are given to students with families who make less than $45,000 and who can contribute no more than $4,000 annually to their children's education. Colleges distribute the money on a first-come, first-served basis.
Bills by state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, and Rep. Dan Branch, R-Dallas , who lead the Senate and House higher education committees, respectively, would change that. Their bills would first reward economically qualifying high school students who have completed at least 12 hours of college-level courses or graduated under the Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate programs, or graduated with a B average or higher in the top third of their class and passed a high-level mathematics class.
Everyone else would be get what's left, which could be very little. Lawmakers are grappling with a 2012-13 budget shortfall of up to $23 billion, and early budget drafts called for slashing Texas Grants by about 40 percent.
If passed, the changes would take effect with grants awarded for the fall 2013 semester.
Both bills are moving closer to votes in the Senate and House. They are supported by the powerful Texas Association of Business. The Texas
NAACP and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund have opposed the changes.
Zaffirini insists her bill won't reduce racial diversity and insisted she would not support it if it did. She said she doesn't know why
half of Texas Grants students don't graduate, whether they are unprepared for college or can't afford to stay in school, even with the state's help.
The proposed changes are similar to a priority model pitched by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-...m-1359934.html