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Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Grading HOPE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In case you missed it, there’s been some interesting commentary in the pages of the AJC recently about proposed changes in the state’s popular HOPE Scholarship program.
The debate centers on whether high school students who take honors courses should receive extra credit for those tougher classes when grade point averages are calculated. Essentially, that would mean a ‘B’ in an honors course would hold more weight than a ‘B’ in a regular academic class.
Because students must have a ‘B’ average in order to earn HOPE, those who take a tougher schedule and perform well could have a leg up in earning the scholarship. But some say honors courses — not Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate classes, but higher-level classes a school system develops — are unequal from campus to campus.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because the Legislature considered this issue three years ago when lawmakers decided to do away with the extra credit for honors courses, a change that’s supposed to take effect this school year.
Back in 2004, some legislators were worried about the program’s financial viability and were looking for ways to cut costs. Now that HOPE is flush with cash, some legislators want to go back to the old system.
Maureen Downey of the AJC’s editorial board says that would be a mistake: “Until the state establishes minimum standards for honors, the classes should not be rewarded with extra credit to win HOPE eligibility.” Harry C. Payne, president of the private Woodward Academy, says that students who take on tougher class schedules should be rewarded: “What is clearly inconsistent is to give the same credit to a standard course as to an honors course.”
But I honestly don’t understand what all the fuss is about. After all, there’s no limit on the number of HOPE scholarships awarded. If a kid graduates from a Georgia high school with a ‘B’ average, he or she can get HOPE — regardless of the quality of a class schedule.
I think the real question is: Is it time to make HOPE a competitive program, rather than an entitlement?
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