ATLANTA -- More than 100 college and high school students gathered outside the state Capitol to protest a bill that would make dramatic cuts to the cash-strapped HOPE scholarship.
The crowd chanted "Kill the bill!" and "Shame on you!" on Wednesday as lawmakers started their day inside the Gold Dome.“Our lives would be fundamentally altered if this legislation passed,” said Sean Phillips, a student at Georgia State University.“We need education in Georgia to become more of a priority than all of the other things in Georgia,” said Andrew Estes who came to protest from Georgia Tech.The protest came a day after the Georgia House overwhelmingly approved Gov. Nathan Deal's bill cutting HOPE scholarships for all but the brightest students.The new bill would only give full tuition scholarships to students with at least a 3.7 GPA and a minimum score of 1200 on the SATs. The changes mean students will have to pay thousands more out of pocket for their educations.“HOPE is very important to the low-income community so they have no right to limit our education,” said high school student Omer Finley.The bill now goes to the Senate, where Democrats are expected to release their own plan Wednesday to rein in spending on lottery-funded programs, including HOPE and pre-kindergarten programs.
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