Readers write

Georgia is turning away its own students

A student grows up in Georgia. She learns to read in a Georgia classroom, pledges allegiance to the American flag every morning for 13 years, graduates from a Georgia high school with honors and then receives a college tuition bill nearly four times higher than her classmates’. Not because she performed worse. Because of where she was born — a decision she never made.

This is not a hypothetical. It is the lived reality for thousands of young Georgians under Senate Bill 492 (passed in 2008) and Board of Regents Policy 4.1.6, which forces undocumented students, including DACA recipients raised entirely in this state, to pay out-of-state tuition rates and receive zero state financial aid. Many are also banned entirely from Georgia’s most prestigious public universities.

The consequences are economic, not just moral. According to fwd.us, approximately 13,000 young Georgians would benefit from tuition equity. Those who cannot afford to stay leave and rarely return, taking with them the talent, ambition and potential that Georgia spent over a decade cultivating.

Twenty-two states, including conservative states like Utah, Kansas and Kentucky, have already corrected this injustice. Georgia continues to fall behind.

These students did not choose where they were born. They chose Georgia. It is time Georgia chose them back.

RALPH ZAFAR, UNION CITY

GEORGIA STATE PERIMETER COLLEGE STUDENT

Georgia Music Office is result of 1980s visionaries

Although your otherwise excellent story about the creation of the long-overdue Georgia Music Office neglected to mention the contributions of Otis Redding, the Allman Brothers Band and Capricorn Records — all with Macon connections — I was glad to finally see some movement on this project (“Bill passes to establish a Georgia Music Office to support industry,” April 10).

In the early 1980s, I was proud to be a member of the Citizens Advisory Council of the Music Industry Committee of the Georgia Senate. Through the efforts of such visionaries as then-Lt. Gov. Zell Miller, state Sen. Richard Greene, as well as industry stalwarts Bill Lowery, Bobbie Bailey and many others, we created a number of events throughout the state saluting our musical heritage during “Georgia Music Week,” culminating in the Georgia Music Hall of Fame Awards.

I hope this new Georgia Music Office will continue to build on that effort, bring back the Georgia Music Hall of Fame Awards and house the museum in Atlanta, its rightful place.

MARK PUCCI, SANDY SPRINGS

Tempering pride and shame of U.S. actions

I am writing this letter from a small village in the Cotswold region of England, where my wife and I are visiting. Here, more than 4,000 miles from our home in Atlanta, the two major news stories on the BBC concern actions undertaken by the United States. One is the war against Iran. The other is the Artemis II mission around the moon.

Both stories involve the wealth and power of our country, but they send very different messages. One describes a use of power that destroys an enemy nation but also harms most other nations of the world. The other story describes the use of wealth and power for an amazing scientific achievement that has the potential to benefit all of humanity.

One story leaves me sad and even ashamed, while the other story makes me proud. I hope that being an American does not always mean having to temper my pride with an equal measure of shame.