From the office of Sen. J.B. Jennings:
Dear Editor,
With the ink still drying from last week’s bill signing that provided in-state tuition exemption for illegal immigrants, Governor O’Malley issued a statement that the Distinguished Scholars Award has been restored. This statement was released in less than a day after graduating seniors received notices from the Maryland Higher Education Commission that their Distinguished Scholar Awards were cancelled due to budget cuts. Approximately 350 Maryland high schools students were in jeopardy of losing these scholarships that provide $3,000 a year for high-achieving students who attend Maryland universities. The outcry from legislators, students, parents, and Maryland citizens brought about the sudden reconsideration by the Governor’s earlier decision to eliminate the scholarship program from this year’s budget – the elimination of this program would have saved the State approximately $1 million. Despite the Governor’s statement that this temporary elimination was an “error”, it begs the question of whether the Governor would have re-instated these awards had this story not been brought publicly on the same day he officially enacted the in-state tuition exemption for illegal immigrants?
To state the obvious, claiming that this was merely “error” holds little merit because the elimination of this funding originated from Governor O’Malley’s own FY12 budget proposal. Contained in the Fiscal Year 2012 budget were numerous funds designated by the Governor for drastic cuts or elimination – the Distinguished Scholar Award was among one of these programs eliminated. Furthermore, if Marylanders are to believe the Governor’s statement that, “our commitment to honor existing awards was not fulfilled”, then the accountability should be placed solely on the person who proposed to remove these awards in the first place – the Governor himself.
This is not the first occasion where the Governor’s “commitment” to honoring existing awards to Maryland students failed. In “2008,” the Maryland Higher Education Commission placed forty applicants on a wait list to receive their entitled Edward T. Conroy Memorial Scholarship because the program was not fully funded in the Governor’s budget. The scholarship was established in “1990” to help offset the cost of higher education for survivors of public safety officers and others who have fallen or have been permanently disabled in the line of duty.
My office immediately intervened upon hearing that one of my constituents’ son feel victim to this wait list. Sadly, his eligibility for this program came at the grave cost of losing his father, a Baltimore County Policeman. He was killed in the line of duty leaving behind his wife of sixteen years and three children ages 10, 12, and 14 (at that time).
When this happened, former Senator Andrew Harris, Delegate Susan McComas, and I immediately submitted a written request to Governor O’Malley seeking immediate action to rectify this fiscal and moral catastrophe. In addition, local news media began covering this story and its development. Through the collaborative efforts made by myself and fellow colleagues, local news media, and most importantly, the families of students who were placed on the wait list, the Governor finally restored the funding so that all of the applicants received the Edward T. Conroy Memorial Scholarships.
Given these similar occurrences, it raises the fair question of whether the sincerity of the Governor’s “commitment” to ensuring State aid to those students who are in the most need is merely a fabrication generated by public outcry and media scrutiny.
The Governor’s calculated wording of “commitment” and “honor” are a stark contrast from the statements issued from his office one day prior. In a public statement, a spokesman for the Governor defended the decision to make the cuts to the program by stating, “every program can’t be protected.” Yet at the same time his office expresses no assurances to protect any program from budgetary cuts, he places his signature to legislation that will ensure the protection for illegal immigrants against State’s infringement from withholding tuition exemptions to attend public institutions to receive higher education. Governor O’Malley often cites a “One Maryland” mantra, but his actions reflect many Marylanders left behind.
Clearly, his inability or decision not to provide funding sends a definitive message to those 350 students and to future high schools students that this Administration seeks not to protect their interests, but rather to promote the financial security of certain students who hold no legal citizenship in this State or Country. In my opinion it was appalling to hold 350 high schools students, who are legal citizens that exemplified the highest achievement of academic excellence, hostage from receiving financial assistance in order to compensate and reward tuition exemptions to those who merely fall into the classification of an “illegal immigrant”.
The justification for the initial cut to the scholarship program by the Governor was based on the State’s recession and the necessity to reduce our budget shortfalls. If the ordinary Maryland taxpayer were to presume the Governor’s rationale to be true, then how can he validate the enactment of a new law that exempts illegal immigrants from paying out-of-state tuition for higher education that is projected to cost the State $3,505,700.00 by the year “2016?”.
There is no mathematical equation that can dispute the fact that this new law clearly supersedes the costs of funding a longstanding program that rewards students of excellence. Moreover, there is no guarantee offered by the Governor that this program will not be further subjected to budget manipulations in future years. As a result, Maryland’s future leaders are placed in a precarious position of seeking alternative means of financial assistance; attending school in another state; or possibly not attending a college due to lack of financial support. Meanwhile, the only certainty that this Administration has cemented is a legal promise to provide higher education entitlement to specific individuals first and for most, despite their flagrant violation to adhere to our federal immigration laws.
It’s ironic. Here our State Legislature and Administration boasts and criticizes the need for new laws to protect certain groups based on gender, sexual orientation, financial means, or legal citizenship, while stripping away the very same protections to those who are rightfully the most deserving of it.
Sincerely,
J.B. Jennings
State Senator, 7th Legislative District
Senator Jennings is straining to find a way to criticize the Governor, who did what the Senator wanted done – restore scholarships to students who were awarded them.
And then there is that last bit about “the need for new laws to protect certain groups based on gender, sexual orientation, financial means, or legal citizenship.”
Yep. These laws ar needed, because civil rights and constitutional protections are for all citizens . . just as all kids in Maryland ought to get all the education they can handle and are academically qualified to receive. They will be better qualified, better compensated and better tax payers in the future.
We hurt ourselves when we draw a circle with only certain people inside and other outside. This is not America and it is not Maryland.
Isn’t the bigger question: Why were the scholarships reinstated, when at nearly the same time, legislation was passed to allow illegal aliens in-state tuition?
If you believe for one second that it was an oversight, or an accident that the scholarships were revoked, then you are truly living in a dream world. She has every right to highlight the utter hypocrisy in this series of events. If they could have gotten away with it, they sure has hell would have done so in order to save a million bucks, in their short-sighted attempt at dealing with the budget fiasco.
I don’t have a problem with illegal aliens attending college. But, why should they be allowed to pay in-state tuition when a kid from PA (that is here legally), who could conceivably commute to school since he or she can’t afford to pay for housing, pay out-of-state tuition?
Hi Pizzle,
Thanks for commenting
Like you, I don’t believe the sudden withholding of offered scholarships was a mistake. I think it was a tone-deaf and very unfair response to a cut-the-budget-at-all-costs mandate. As a granddad who hopes his gkids go to college in Maryland, I was one who complained that you don’t wait until after the application deadline has come and gone and only then withdraw an offer of financial aid.
Interesting that our State Senators did not lose their power to give scholarships to their constituents – without any transparency or criteria at all. Hanging on to this perk makes the budget crunch look not all that severe. Right?
Maybe Senator Jennings would like to weigh in on why the senators kept this perk, which is a political benefit to incumbents but not a help at all to the most qualified college-bound kids. It’s who-you-know rather than who-has-academic-promise-and-need-help.
As to your further comment: Undocumented kids who are residents of Maryland pay in-state tuition because they are residents of Maryland and their parents and other family members contribute to the state’s economy. Pennsylvania kids pay out-of-state tuition b/c they are not residents of Maryland. If their were no residency rule . . . chaos and confusion.
Pizzle, I hope you read this and comment further – if you want to.
Richard,
My point regarding the PA kid who needs to pay out-of-state tuition while an illegal immigrant can pay in-state tuition was that it seems to me to be an affront to kids that are in the country legally and happen to live within a commutable distance to the school….and maybe even “contribute to the state’s economy” in the same way an illegal immigrant would, since I’m assuming you mean by buying goods and services in MD, since they sure as hell aren’t paying taxes…correct?
I happen to believe that if we pursued the EMPLOYERS that are knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and fined the hell out of them, we would go a long way towards solving our problem (and generate a little revenue as well). Additionally, we should document the workers that are here and collect taxes on them.
This quote:
“If their were no residency rule . . . chaos and confusion.”
Seems a bit dramatic in the context of tuition. Why not just have the same rate for in-state and out-of-state kids?
P,
Higher Ed Residency rules are important for a number of reasons but the chaos that would come to Maryland without one is due to Maryland, a small state, sharing its borders with so many jurisdictions, incl D.C, WV, PA, DE, VA. Our state tax payers ought not be expected to cover college tuition for anyone from these jurisdictions – as many (most? all?) are not likely to settle in MD and thus return that investment to Maryland. There has to be a mechanism that assists Marylanders to higher ed – students who are more likely to settle here. Anyway, I am sure you know all this . . . but assisting Maryland students to higher ed is the main reason we have a state higher ed system, paid for by taxes.
I agree with you that we ought to pursue “the EMPLOYERS that are knowingly hiring illegal immigrants” but employers are very well connected politically so, instead of dealing with all this as an employment issue, we deal with it as a criminal matter and have agents chasing individuals around . .. not very efficient and pretty unworkable . . .
plus, the State Dept (again b/c of political pressure) does not even offer visas for low paying employment – the very sectors (gardening, landscaping, kitchen help) that immigrants are needed to occupy b/c many Americans are not interested in this specialized but low paying work.
Our immigration policies are not very logical, but are expensive and self-defeating.
We ought to offer visas and regulate this work force, not ban them altogether, pretend that works, and then criminalize everyone who comes here to landscape the suburbs and cook retail.
You sound like a disbarred lawyer who is regurgitating Sorosian rhetoric. Where is the sympathy for the hard working students who don’t have another country to claim as their own and now have lost a spot at a state run college? What are the options for these financially strapped legal citizens? They can’t afford a private college or university. They as well as their parents have followed the laws, have paid lots of taxes, and now find themselves completely disregarded. How much is enough?
you mean the slacking children who could not get into a state school and got beat out for a community college spot by a kid with better grades.
A question I can never get answer is why does the state permit anyone over 60 to attend a state college or community free! This requires “real students” tuition to help pay for those whose purpose is not to get an education to benefit society.
In other words, in order to go to college you have to contribute to help pay for seniors’ entertainment for the semester.
That is because it is one of the established purposes of the community college system. It is also the reason that the community colleges accept, as students, any person who has a high school diploma or GED, regardless of their academic or disciplinary record.
Do not fault the college, as it is their charter to do so. It also does not in any way lessen the quality of the education that its students receive. I have degrees from HCC and from Towson University, and the teachers I had at HCC were no worse than those at TU.
Finally, I think you would find that the number of seniors taking classes for “entertainment” make up a minute fraction of one percent of the total enrollment at HCC. Your argument sounds like one from someone who has had a bad personal experience and generalizes it to much broader significance than it actually has.
I like this statement
“The outcry from legislators, students, parents, and Maryland citizens brought about the sudden reconsideration by the Governor’s earlier decision to eliminate the scholarship program from this year’s budget – the elimination of this program would have saved the State approximately $1 million.”
Notice how legistators came first? I think the students and parents brought it to their attention had the legistors realized this why did they pass the budget and not say anything?