The Georgia Governor’s Honors Program (GHP) is scheduled to be reviewed by the Georgia General Assembly within the next month to decide whether or not the program will lose funding for the 2014 fiscal year. The program is on the cut list once again, after struggling to receive sufficient funding from the state since the state’s budget crisis in 2009.
These cuts could lead to the reduction of the number of GHP finalists for the upcoming 2013 summer by up to 110 students.
Designed for rising juniors and seniors, GHP allows students to specialize in a specific subject area and learn from a different perspective than they normally would during the school year. Over the past three years, the program has taken a number of cuts, including a reduction from six weeks to four weeks in 2011. GHP, which is fully funded by the Georgia General Assembly, has been provided to students at no cost since its founding in 1963 by then Gov. Carl Sanders. It began as an eight-week summer program at Wesleyan College in Macon and expanded to include a site at North Georgia College in 1976. North Georgia College co-hosted GHP with Valdosta State University from 1980 to 1983 before Valdosta State became the only campus used for GHP in 1984, where the program is still held today.
The main threat to the program comes directly from the state, which is combating a budget shortfall from the past year caused by overspending and a sluggish economy.
“The state has been going through budget changes year after year, and it’s normal for states to undergo a shortfall every now and then,” Jennifer Hartley, a parent of two students who formerly attended the Governor’s Honors Program, said.
GHP, which currently accepts 690 finalists each year, could be changing to only accept 580 finalists in the near future. This proposal has caused a tre-mendous amount of backlash from many around the state.
Junior Adam Schatz, who attended GHP as a Math major in 2012, thinks the cuts are a bad idea.
“It’s a shame that the cuts could keep some of my friends and other kids from the great experience I had this summer,” Schatz said.
Other students have similar opinions.
“It is just ridiculous to me that cutting funding from a program like GHP is even considered,” Myles Willis, a GHP candidate for Communicative Arts from North Atlanta High school, said. “Out of all the things to cut, it seems like a program for successful high school students would not even be considered.”
GHP coordinators around the state were notified that no progress could be made in selecting finalists until after a deal had been agreed on in the state General Assembly. All of the current semifinalists were told they would know whether they were accepted by March 8, but that has now changed to an indefinite date due to the budget issue. Shaketha Blankenship, the GHP coordinator for Grady, sent out emails to each of the semifinalists from Grady to alert them of the situation, despite the uncertainty behind the delay.
As the General Assembly continues to convene on the task of solving the fiscal budget issues, some parents feel as if the integrity of the program is threatened simply because of the controversy around the program’s future.
“I feel that the program may not be seen as a true opportunity to students if this continues,” Hartley said. “These students work really hard to get to the point where they are, and if 110 students are cut from the program, they are cut off from an amazing opportunity that will prepare them for the future.”
