By Gerry Purcell

At the risk of angering some parents and young people, I have to get something off my chest.  

In my senior year of high school (1980), my dad took me to our family bank to introduce me to his banker.  He made the introductions and said, “Son, this gentleman may be able to help you with your college tuition.  I will leave you two to work it out.” He then left the room and left me to handle it with the banker.  I was 18 years old.

I went on to self-finance 100 percent of my college education, going from an average B student in high school to excelling in college, graduating in a little over 3 years with Distinguished Military Graduate and business honors.  Part of the self-financing required me to pay back two awesome years of college with four years of military service, which I was honored to do.  It was my investment - I was on the hook - I "worked" it out.  

My brother's experience was even more antiquated.  He started as a low level bookkeeper at his company while attending night school to earn his college degree.  

This tortuous way of learning turned him into true grit, fanatical capitalist; leading him to buy his company a few years later, and the cubicle he started in.  He is now one of the most successful people in his industry - in the world.  Shamefully, he now lives at the beach, which I am entirely envious of. 

Somehow, over the years, education has now become another "right," like cell phones in the 1st grade I guess. There seems little public or parental virtue left in teaching our kids the value of working diligently to better themselves by bootstrapping their way to learning and a college degree.  

Meanwhile, as we have become "smarter" our kids seem less self-reliant to stand on their own two feet.  And, while we are "smarter," we are collectively broke.  We are also getting our collective smart butt kicked by other nations who are out innovating and out competing us in so many areas.

Meanwhile, the cost of college education has soared.  Steve Forbes reported recently, "During the past 30 years overall inflation in the U.S. was 106 percent; health care costs went up 251 percent.  How about college tuitions and fees?  They soared 439 percent."  [See:  http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2011/0228/opinions-steve-forbes-fact-comment-dinosaur-u.html].  I don't think it is a stretch to attribute much of this increase to government engineering.  Somehow "free" always ends up costing more.

In designing the HOPE program years ago, our well-intentioned legislators in Georgia handed over the keys to the bank to the educators without any performance criteria or reform demands.  We have built some beautiful and fabulous edifices and structures on our campuses around the state, all of which contribute very little to real learning.

Educators found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and started spending money like there was no tomorrow.  When they needed more money, they just raised tuition and our government kept sending the money. Legislators then pounded their chests extolling the success of HOPE to win more votes. Perhaps, if students want to protest against something, they should start by protesting against the government stupidity that has caused 439 percent inflation.   

It was reported that one of our legislators, State Senator Jason Carter, argued that "high-achieving students have upheld their end of the bargain to earn scholarships through HOPE and the state should do the same." [AJC, March 9, 2011].  That is about the dumbest thing I have heard in awhile.  Is that really the message we want to send, i.e., study hard so you can have some government candy for free?  

My brother and I did not work hard in order to win an entitlement from the government. We worked hard because we had an old fashion notion that it might better ourselves, and in order that we would not have to live with our parents until we were 40 (my apologies for the sarcasm).

Don't get me wrong.  I believe in education.  And, I believe in providing the greatest access to education - the best, most technologically advanced learning available at the best price.  But, not at the expense of teaching an even more valuable lesson:  If it is self-reliance versus "free," I will choose self-reliance every time.  “Free” eventually fails while self-reliance, combined with faith, sustains you through the storms.

 As parents (myself included), we would do well to take a time out and think about what the future fruit of entitlement looks like.  In wanting our kids to have everything, we may be taking away the most important of things; appreciation, gratitude, creativity, ingenuity to name a few.  

As for legislators, especially Republicans (my party), HOPE has no hope if it is broke.

And, programs don't last long without accountability and performance built in (unless you can figure out how to continue to tax the "rich" middle class on and on).  And, please don't be hypocrites for the sake of votes:  Apply the same logic to education as you are applying to the ills of nationalized health care and you will be right on target; a nationalized, centralized education entitlement for all is just as bad and ineffective.

Someone once said, "If it is going to be, it is up to me."  The Southern version goes something like this, "If it is going to be, it isn't going to come free."  Now is our best chance to fix it right.