TOPS Recipients Akin to SNAP Recipients

Yesterday Governor John Bel Edwards signed into law a bill that will allow middle income and upper income residents in the state to join the ranks of many of its poor residents by allowing them to continue participating in their own entitlement program. 

The one designed for the poor, the often criticized welfare assistance program SNAP, is the largest entitlement program presently operating in the state.   It provides financial aid in purchasing food items for those meeting certain financial guidelines.

The entitlement program for all the other residents of the state is known as  the Taylor Opportunity Program for Students (TOPS).  If you have a child that is a C plus student and earns an average ACT score, you as parents receive financial aid in paying 100% of the college tuition costs. 

Ironically, Taylor’s website relates the history of the program as follows:   “That mission received national attention when he (Taylor) promised to send 183 underprivileged, underachieving 7th and 8th graders, affectionately dubbed “Taylor’s Kids,” to college if they studied rigorously, maintained a B average, and stayed out of trouble. A man of integrity, he was true to his word.”

Taylor’s desire was to help underprivileged kids, that academically achieved, go to college.

Years ago state legislators decided to take TOPS, an exemplary academic achievement program, dumb it down, and turn it into a cash cow for mostly the middle and upper class residents of this state funded with taxpayers’ money.

Because of the budget deficit, our esteem legislators had the chance to let TOPS return automatically to one of its original intents, an academic rewards program.  Built into the current TOPS law was a clause stating that if there weren’t enough monies to fully fund the program only the highest achieving students would receive tuition funds.

However, our legislators would have none of this so they passed the most recent bill altering the present policy by splitting the available funds equally among all who apply even if those funds will cover only part of the tuition.  And sadly, the financially disadvantaged, the target of the original Taylor Plan, participate the least in the program.

Tuesday, state legislators stated that the bill, just signed into law by Edwards, distributing the monies equally was unacceptable and that they intend to cut K-12, college, university and hospital monies to fully fund TOPS so that all applicants will receive their full entitlement of 100% of tuition costs.

However, maybe some good will come from all this TOPS mess.  Next time a TOPS parent sees someone using a SNAP card in the grocery line and just feels this person could probably really afford the groceries rather than relying on his/her paying taxes for the funding of that entitlement program,  perhaps, they will see the similarity.