Pitching HOPE solutions, Georgia gubernatorial candidate returns to her hometown

RINGGOLD, Ga. - Stacey Evans returned to her hometown to sell her plan of dedicating more scholarship money to low-income families.

Evans, a Democratic candidate for governor this year, told the Catoosa Retired Educators Association on Thursday that the Georgia HOPE program changed her life. Before she graduated from Ringgold High School in 1996, Gov. Zell Miller spoke at a National Honors Society banquet in the cafeteria, urging students to apply for the scholarship.

Ringgold native Stacey Evans, center, talks with Angela Sloan, left, and Karen Willis Thursday at Boynton Baptist Church. Evans, a Democrat, was at a luncheon for a group of retired teachers.

Ringgold native Stacey Evans speaks to a group of retired teachers Thursday at Boynton Baptist Church. Evans, a Democrat, is running for governor in the state of Georgia.

Evans was from a poor family. Her mother gave birth to her at 17. They moved 16 times as Evans grew up. But with the scholarship, she graduated from the University of Georgia, then graduated from law school, then became a Georgia State House District 42 representative.

"I never could have imagined that life," she said at the Boynton Baptist Church. "I never could have imagined this path."

In 2011, though, the state legislature cut much of the funding for the HOPE program. At the time, the scholarship fully funded a student's tuition. But over the years, the number of recipients skyrocketed. In 1995, according to Inside Higher Ed, 98,000 students got the scholarship. By 2010, that number was up to 250,000 students.

Also, the state didn't have as much money to dedicate to the program. It was funded by the lottery. But after the recession, fewer people bought tickets. The Georgia Student Finance Commission projected that funding would dry up by 2013.

The legislature made several changes. First, it added a new requirement: Students receiving the HOPE Scholarship needed a 3.0 GPA to be eligible. It also no longer fully funded tuition. Instead, the amount covered by tuition would change based on lottery revenues. The first year, about 90 percent of students' tuition was covered.

The legislature also created a new category in the program: The Zell Miller Scholarship. Like the previous program, the state would cover 100 percent of these recipients' tuition. To qualify, the students needed 3.7 GPAs and SAT scores of at least 1,200.

Another program, the HOPE Grant, covers technical colleges. Under changes that took place over several years, the Grant is no longer fully funded, as it was before 2011. The amount covered changes, based on the amount of money coming in from the lottery.

Evans argued that these changes disproportionately hurt poor people. In particular, she said the SAT score requirement means that wealthier students generally get the scholarships - and generally go to the state's most expensive schools.

Conveniently, the bill that triggered these changes happened to be sponsored by her opponent in the Democratic primary, State Rep. Stacey Abrams, D-Atlanta.

"It is the worst thing I believe we have done to working families in the state," Evans said Thursday.

For her part, Abrams has grown tired of Evans' attacks over HOPE. As first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Abrams pushed back against this attack during an event sponsored by the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys on April 6.

She said that she had to negotiate with Republicans on a deal, given the dire financial problems for HOPE at the time. She also said she helped preserve funding for preschool education, allowing 500,000 4-year-olds to receive early education.

"We need a governor who will do that on HOPE," Abrams said. " You need a leader who can work with everyone to get the best we can and keep fighting."

Evans wants to change the scholarship programs a couple ways. First, she wants to fully fund technical college scholarships, similar to what Tennessee has done. She estimates this will cost the state about $20 million a year, and she believes the legislature would get behind that plan.

Next, she wants to change the scholarship programs for four-year colleges. The SAT requirement is crippling for some, she said, because students from low-income households generally perform worse on the tests, even as they perform equally in the classroom.

According to a 2016 report by the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute, 30-percent of four-year college students from low-income backgrounds received a scholarship. Of their peers from moderate- to high-income backgrounds, meanwhile, 42 percent got the scholarship. The study looked at students from 2013.

Evans suggested a couple solutions. The state could create an income requirement. For example, families with incomes greater than $140,000 a year would not be eligible. They could also only partially fund scholarships for students from wealthier homes, freeing up more money for low-income students.

"I'm open to different ways," she said. "But what I do know is that using the SAT score, as a requirement for a full-tuition HOPE scholarship, is the wrong way."

Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at 423-757-6476 or tjett@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @LetsJett.