State Lottery Revenues Would Fund $5000 Grants to One Senior at Every Participating Public or Private High School in State
Citing the New York State Lottery’s heightened revenues, Assemblyman Luis Sepúlveda (D, Bronx) and Council Member Mark Treyger (D, Brooklyn) are calling on lottery officials to work with state legislators for quick passage of legislation to reinstate the Barbara Clark Leaders of Tomorrow scholarship program, and the awarding of grants of $5,000 each to eligible high school senior throughout the state.
The grants, cut from the lottery commission’s budget under a prior administration, would be paid for from New York Lottery revenue and awarded to one eligible high school senior from every participating public or private high school in the state.
Treyger has introduced Resolution 1042 in the Council, referred to the Higher Education Committee, calling for enactment of Assemblyman Sepúlveda’s bill, A.9213-A (same as Senate bill 06645-A), introduced by State Senator Carl Marcellino (R-C-I, Nassau-Suffolk), chair of the Senate’s Committee on Education, to restore the scholarships.
At a news conference Thursday afternoon on the steps of City Hall, the legislators said the rising debt being carried by college students had reached epidemic levels, and that a flush state Lottery could well afford the restoration of the scholarship program, which began in 1999 and ended in 2010 when the New York Lottery faced budget constraints from a decline in revenue. The scholarships were paid for out of the Lottery’s administrative costs.
“New York State didn’t create a state lottery for the sake of promoting gambling,” said Assemblyman Sepúlveda. “We created the New York State Lottery for the purpose of raising much needed dollars to fund education. And with tuition spiraling ever higher and student debt associated with paying for college averaging $25,000, even as the Lottery had a net revenue of $83 million for the last reported fiscal year after all prize payouts, school aid distribution, and operating expenses, the Lottery can well afford to reinstate these scholarships, which are sorely needed.
“Assuming 100 percent participation by the approximately 1100 high schools in the state,” Sepúlveda continued, “it would cost the Lottery five and a half million dollars to pay for the scholarships. Our students need whatever help we can offer, so that New York’s workforce of tomorrow uses its hard earned dollars to participate in the economy, as opposed to being weighted down with heavy student loan debt.”
“Every now and then,” said Council Member Treyger, lottery fever grips us all. Everyone talks about the latest ever-climbing Powerball jackpot, typically a mind-boggling sum of money that will change the life of anyone fortunate enough to pick the winning six-digit combination.
“But the real winner anytime we get crazed about another record-breaking jackpot,” Treyger continued, “is the state lottery agency. The higher the jackpots climb, the more money New Yorkers spend on tickets, and the more money the New York Lottery takes in. The agency makes sure the hype continues to grow, spending big bucks on promoting the jackpot prize by advertising through a wide variety of media.
“Every year, this agency takes in billions of dollars. In 2009, the New York Lottery took in approximately $7.5 billion. That was the same year the agency ended its Leaders ofTomorrow scholarship program. The Leaders of Tomorrow program helped more than 2,000 students pay for college. The agency cut the program to save $1.2 million.
“It is time,” concluded Treyger, “for the agency to reinstate the Leaders of Tomorrowscholarship program. As a former high school teacher, I know all too well the challenges that students face when it comes time to pay for postsecondary education. Tuition costs across the state and the country continue to rise. While the lottery has the power to change the lives of a handful of individuals, it must reinstate the Leaders for Tomorrowscholarships, which it can once again well afford.”
Under provisions of the legislation, the Barbara Clark Leaders of Tomorrow scholarship program will resume making awards totaling $5000 each to one eligible senior graduating from each participating public and private high school in New York State based on each awardee having demonstrated strong academic ability, participated in extracurricular activities, and displayed by their actions a commitment to community service.
The $5000 awards will be made in payments of $1250 per academic year to recipients in good academic standing who have carried a minimum requisite course load, and maintained at least a B-average (3.0 or higher on a 4.0 grading scale) in the minimum number of semester hours required per year.
Scholarships will be open only to United States citizens or eligible noncitizens who are legal residents of New York State and who graduated from a high school in the state in June of the academic year for which the scholarship is awarded.
Eligible applicants must begin study at an approved post-secondary institution in New York state in the academic year for which the scholarship is initially awarded, and they must maintain a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.
Finally, awardees must 1) be enrolled as a full-time student taking 12 or more credits per semester, 2) be matriculated in an approved program of study and in good academic standing, and 3) not be in default on a student loan guaranteed by the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation.
Council Member Debi Rose (D, Staten Island) also weighed in on the scholarships. “The Great Recession forced many elected officials to make difficult choices, but economic recovery should bring a reversal of many of these cuts,” she said. “The Barbara Clark Leaders of Tomorrow scholarships have helped countless students pursue higher education. As a former executive director of a dropout prevention program, I know firsthand the value of these scholarships, and I call on the state to restore this important investment in the next generation of New Yorkers.”
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