Reflections/Jonathan Gramling
Scholars of Promise
I heard through the grapevine that RSVPs for the Madison College Scholars of Promise Apply Day on March 5th at the Goodman South Campus have not been as many as Madison College has hoped.
Scholars of Promise is something that I wish was around when I was a graduating high school senior. It is a huge jump start to a graduating senior’s collegiate career no matter what your background is. It is guaranteed financial, academic and social support as the student navigates their first two years of college no matter what their background is, citizen or not.
During its relatively brief history, the Scholars of Promise have been 72 percent students of color. 109 of the scholars have graduated or transferred to a four-year college. Students have averaged $3,279 in financial support during their first two years. And for those students who successfully apply to UW-Madison, they have their tuition and fees covered by the Promise to Promise program.
In addition to the financial help, there is the Retention Initiatives and Student Engagement (RISE) Program where students receive a dedicated advisor and success coach; access to tutoring, mentoring, and workshops to help them grow personally, professionally, and financially and retention tools that include a Personal Education Plan and Progress Reports. And the peer support doesn’t hurt.
And so, if you are a promising graduating high school senior whose dreams may not happen due to financial difficulties and are unsure of the collegiate landscape because you are the “first” in your family to attend college, then Students of Promise is the vehicle that will help you fulfill your dreams.
It’s all happening on Tuesday, March 5th from 5-8 p.m. at Madison College’s Goodman South Campus, 2429 Perry Street. For more information, you can call 608-246-6036 or email scholarsofpromise@madisoncollege.edu.
This is an opportunity that you can’t afford to pass up.
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Well, there has been some good news on the Democracy front. In a rare show of bipartisan support — probably because the alternative was even worse — the Republican-controlled Wisconsin legislature signed off on Governor Tony Evers’ fair map proposal that was submitted to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. And Governor Evers signed the bill that made the maps official.
For the past 12 years or so, the Wisconsin Republican legislature has ensured that they would remain in political control through the gerrymandering of legislative maps that are redrawn every 10 years. What is meant by gerrymandering is that legislative district maps are drawn in such a way to guarantee that one party or the other stays in political power. It has been commonly said that legislators were choosing their voters instead of the voters choosing their legislators. Apparently in order to create some Republican majority districts, islands of voters were created in some districts and attached to other districts in order to create a majority of Republican voters.
Now it appears that the State Senate and the Assembly will more than likely remain under Republican control for the present. But their majorities will be slim so that the Republicans and Democrats will actually have to negotiate with each other in order to pass budgets and legislation. And even within the Republican majority, particularly in the Assembly, there won’t be a “dictator” forcing policy on the rest of the Republican legislators. It just may free them up to more accurately reflect the needs and interests of the voters in their district as opposed to toeing the Republican leadership line. I can’t help but feel that there are some Republican legislators who would like to increase funding for public education because the schools in their districts are really hurting and are unable to meet the basic academic needs of their students.
And the Republican and Democratic legislators will actually have to negotiate with each other instead of dictating to one another. Once more we just might have the sifting and winnowing of ideas by our legislative bodies that will produce the best policy outcomes for the State of Wisconsin.
Now I am sure that I won’t get everything I want. But I might just get enough to believe that the State of Wisconsin is a Democracy once more.
I was also encouraged by the fact that Donald Trump and Company was fined $355 million by a New York City judge for basically inflating the value of his holdings to get cheap interest rates for the funds that he borrowed or deflated the value of his holdings when it came to paying his tax bill. While it will probably be a decade or more until Trump finally pays the fine — he is the master of delay, delay and delay until you wear them out or witnesses die or records are lost — it is nice that the initial court proceeding was actually allowed to begin and be completed with Trump being held accountable. Will wonders ever cease.
And while most of us would be devastated with a hefty fine of $355 million, Trump is sure to turn it into another money-making opportunity. He just released a new line of gaudy sneakers that he plans to sell. I am sure that he will rev up his ‘I am a victim and so buy my sneakers to help pay my legal fees. I am standing up for you!’ Of course, it will be Trump pocketing the profits while his supporters pay for the over-priced sneakers. It’s just another example of a shepherd fleecing his flock and you know where the sheep end up.
Trump’s voters get what they deserve.