{"id":297,"date":"2007-01-26T18:08:32","date_gmt":"2007-01-26T23:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.citizennetmom.com\/?p=297"},"modified":"2007-01-26T18:11:40","modified_gmt":"2007-01-26T23:11:40","slug":"lottery-scholarships-an-odd-view","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.citizennetmom.com\/?p=297","title":{"rendered":"Lottery Scholarships: an odd view"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eligibility for the Tennessee Lottery Scholarship<\/a> is very simple: a 3.0 grade point average upon graduation from high school, or a 21 on the ACT<\/a> (required for admission to all Tennessee public universities).<\/p>\n

Either \/ Or.<\/p>\n

It allows for both kinds of students to succeed: those who have learned the material and can adequately perform on a test, as well as those who have learned the material and demonstrated as much in classroom performance, regardless of test-taking ability.<\/p>\n

It is rather generous in terms of the preparation needed to succeed in a 4-year college or university, allowing also those who will seek an associate’s degree, technical school, or who will attend community college first.<\/p>\n

Yet, Sen. Thelma Harper<\/a> blasts the lottery scholarship program in today’s Chattanooga Times<\/a>:<\/p>\n

State Sen. Thelma Harper, D-Nashville, today criticized the Tennessee Education Lottery scholarship program for shortchanging black and low-income students, calling it a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153disgrace.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I want you to tell me what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wrong that black people can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get scholarships,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she told members of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s regular quarterly meeting. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It sends a horrible message, and someone needs to re-evaluate how those lottery scholarships are being made.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s a deeper question, Sen. Harper. The problem is not with the lottery scholarship; it’s with educating poor and black students to the same levels as everyone else. Any student who cannot attain either a 3.0 GPA or<\/em> a 21 on the ACT doesn’t need to be in college — they cannot and will not succeed.<\/p>\n

The problem is, to a large degree, cultural. It is one of role models, and of “fitting in” with the various groups of other students that inevitably form in school. It is a problem to some degree of parental involvement, expectations, and discipline.<\/p>\n

Playing the race card in this way insultingly implies that poor and black students are unable to attain these minimum standards for college readiness — and it just isn’t true<\/em>. They ARE able.<\/p>\n

The real question is, how do we make them want<\/em> to attain a higher educational standard?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eligibility for the Tennessee Lottery Scholarship is very simple: a 3.0 grade point average upon graduation from high school, or a 21 on the ACT (required for admission to all Tennessee public universities). Either \/ Or. It allows for both … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizennetmom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizennetmom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizennetmom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizennetmom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizennetmom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizennetmom.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citizennetmom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizennetmom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citizennetmom.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}