Golden Apple scholars suffer budget cutback
Gov. Blagojevich cuts program's funding

By Bernadette Bicek
Staff Writer

Megan Freeman attended the March 27 Golden Apple Scholars of Illinois ceremony at the Field Museum, 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, which was supposed to commemorate her award and signal the beginning of a scholarship program that would help her and 99 other students achieve their dreams of becoming teachers.

However, the ceremony was primarily focused on Gov. Rod Blagojevich's recent decision to cut state funding for the program, which would leave 800 participants of the program out of luck.

Freeman, a sophomore majoring in early childhood education, is depending on her scholarship and said she can't believe her money is in jeopardy.

"It just shows how education is not a top priority in the country, and it is really disheartening," Freeman said.

Hundreds of students and parents are struggling to understand why the governor chose to eliminate funding for a scholarship program that assures that the state's neediest schools receive more teachers who are well prepared and devoted.

After graduation, teachers must work at a school in need for five years. While working there they receive continued mentoring, said Dominic Belmonte, director of teacher preparation for the Golden Apple Foundation.

The Golden Apple Foundation was established in 1985 to honor teachers and encouraged their continued learning process. Today the foundation is an academy of highly accomplished teachers who dedicate their time to help other aspiring teachers by providing mentoring and learning resources.

The annual grant amount of $3.8 million was cut without warning, Belmonte said. The foundation has been receiving state funding since 1993 at the behest of then-Gov. Edgar.

"We learned in February that the preliminary budget for 2005 listed us as zero dollars," Belmonte said. "We have 800 participants in our program; they are either in the classroom now or they are on their way to the classroom attending one of 54 universities in Illinois."

Along with providing mentoring, the foundation also awards the scholars with $5,000 of annual tuition assistance, as well as a $2,000 stipend for the summer institute, which is held at DePaul University.

This budget cut will impact hundreds of students who are currently depending on the scholarship money to help pay for college.

Belmonte said some of the scholars actually turned down offers from other universities, because they wanted the Golden Apple Scholarship.

"When the word came out about all of this some of them attempted to reclaim what they turned down, but were unsuccessful doing so and that part is so unfortunate," Belmonte said.

Belmonte said he believes that funds were cut because of a misunderstanding about the nature of the program.

"We have a scholarship component to our program and the misnomer might have been perceived that we were just a scholarship program," Belmonte said. "So, if there has been any upside to this current circumstance it's been in our ability to clearly redefine to a larger audience just who it is we are and what it is we do."

If state funds aren't restored, the program will be eliminated by August, Belmonte said. There will only be enough funds to present to the current scholars with their summer institute.

Principal Kathy Hagstrom of the Walt Disney Magnet School, 4140 N. Marine Drive, said she has two Golden Apple scholars on her staff and seven from another Golden Apple program called GATE.

"I just think that the legislatures are uninformed. The superior ability of these teachers is going to help underperforming children excel," Hagstrom said. "All children need to have a quality education. It's a program that we should be applauding and supporting rather than detracting."

A report published in December 2000 by the Illinois Board of Education states "many Illinois districts are unable to fill positions each year due to a lack of qualified applicants at the district level. There were 2,637 unfilled positions-half in Chicago School District No. 299 in September 2000.

Lori A. Reimers, director of state relations for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, a state agency said the commission really values the work the foundation does. It is more than just a scholarship, she said, it is a hands-on mentoring program.

"We definitely understand the governor's position too when you have limited funds there are a lot of programs in the state that, unfortunately need to be cut, and it is unfortunate that this is one of them," Reimers said. "We are doing everything we can to help the students who are currently in the program and those who would be coming into the program to know about the types of programs that we offer, so that they have access to other scholarships."

Belmonte said he understands a large program such as the Golden Apple requires sizeable funding, but he said it is not sizeable when you consider the totality of the $54 billion state budget.

No one can say for sure whether or not the funding will actually be cut, Reimers said.

She said the current budget is just a proposal by the governor that still has to be approved by the general assembly. Around the end of May, the general assembly will pass the final budget, which will most likely have changes in it from what the governor wanted.

However, at this time, the governor still has veto power too.

Belmonte said the foundation has a strong and complicated campaign under way to restore the funds.

"We can say that we have half of the state Senate and about a quarter of the state representatives aware of it and on our side for restoring funds," Belmonte said.

Freeman said she wants an explanation as to why the governor cut the program.

"I'm sure the majority of legislatures have kids themselves and they can probably afford to send their kids to private schools, but I want them to look at it from the perspective of the people who can't afford to do that," Freeman said. "Those kids still deserve a quality education so they can grow outside of what they know."

Mark Kelly, vice president of Student Affairs, said he isn't surprised that funding is being cut.

"Look at the cuts we have seen in MAP, and the overall Pell has been basically flat for several years, while tuition has been going up," Kelly said.

According to Belmonte, the foundation is going to "fight like heck" to get the funds restored.

"The closer you look at the scholars program the more you see it as a sterling investment of Illinois funds. With this program it is very difficult to find a down side," Belmonte said. "There are many great people throughout the state directed towards teaching in challenging and difficult schools of need and given the advance work that would allow them to be successful."

Students who are interested in learning more about various available scholarships can visit www.collegezone.com.