Bright futures is probably the one education thing that Florida does close to right. Close mind you, just close.
They provide varying percentage of scholarships to students depending on how they do on the SAT.
You do great you get a complete scholarship, you do a little less than great you get a percentage and spoiler alert, based on my SAT scores I wouldn't have gotten one.
Now they skew white and upper middle class. It makes a lot of sense for kids that can to get tutors and take the SAT multiple times because in the long run it will save a lot of money. The problem is poor kids which are disproportionately minority can't afford to spend thousands of dollars to save tens of thousands.
So Kelly Stargel, whose claim to used to be multiple attempts to push a parent trigger bill through, now wants to make the Bright Futures scholarships even harder to get, leaving, more and more poor and mostly minority kids out in the cold.
From WFSU.org
They provide varying percentage of scholarships to students depending on how they do on the SAT.
You do great you get a complete scholarship, you do a little less than great you get a percentage and spoiler alert, based on my SAT scores I wouldn't have gotten one.
Now they skew white and upper middle class. It makes a lot of sense for kids that can to get tutors and take the SAT multiple times because in the long run it will save a lot of money. The problem is poor kids which are disproportionately minority can't afford to spend thousands of dollars to save tens of thousands.
So Kelly Stargel, whose claim to used to be multiple attempts to push a parent trigger bill through, now wants to make the Bright Futures scholarships even harder to get, leaving, more and more poor and mostly minority kids out in the cold.
From WFSU.org
It could become even tougher for Florida students to get bright futures scholarships. A senate proposal would match the state score requirements for the SAT and ACT tests to match the national percentile rankings.
Sen. Kelli Stargel (R-Lakeland) says the change was needed.
"Through the years the different testing organizations have changed their test and in doing so it was getting much easier to reach those different levels. Concordant for the SAT would be 1290 would be the 86th percentile, and a concordant score of 1170 would be the 70th," said Stargel.
Stargel says any student who graduates after 2020 would be required to meet the higher testing requirements.
Um, who cares if it has gotten easier to qualify if it helps kids? Kelly Stargel apparently. Were her constituents in Lakeland going, man to many people are going to college, get over there and do something, Why do I think that's not the case.
More from the Orlando Sentinel,
Sen. Janet Cruz, D-Tampa, asked during Wednesday’s meting if the change would “disproportionately effect the minority community?”
Stargel said she didn’t have that data, but a report from the College Board shows SAT scores for black and Hispanic students in Florida lag behind those of Asian and white students, with the gap between Asian and black students at about 200 points.
To earn Bright Futures, students also need good grades and community service hours, among other requirements.
The bill, which does not have a House companion, has two more committee stops in the Senate. The proposal also would give students five years after high school graduation — instead of the current two — to start using a Bright Futures award.
Translation, she doesn't care, but the sad truth is there aren't a lot of republicans in Tallahassee that do.
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