Getting a Free School Lunch Qualifies you for a Free Scholarship to a Seattle College

I wrote this letter/email to our Seattle Mayor McGinn in response to a recent program created by Washington State that guarantees a free scholarship to any students getting free lunches (or reduced lunch programs).  It’s called the “College Bound Scholarship Program”.  Here is the program summary from Seattle Mayor McGinn’s office here.

Dear Mayor McGinn:

I was so surprised to get this notice about guaranteed tuition to any student on the federal free and reduced lunch program. WOW. This sure beats the toy in the Cracker Jack Box or the Happy Meal at McDonald’s.  It is so STUPID (you know it and you know we people know it) it is hard to know where to start. Up until you sent this notice I have been reading about how our LOCAL kids who have a 4.0 grade average, valedictorian of their class are denied entry to the University. Hundreds of kids were turned down because the University pays their management all 6 figure salaries. Just out of whack completely the waste in upper management but they wont listen at all. They cant afford local students because they can sell the spots to foreign students who will pay 3 times more. NOW, with your hair brained scheme of offering free tuition with a free lunch should really be challenged. You know nothing is free. You have to take it from a worker to give it to someone who does not want to work. I am sure there are some families that need help but any one I know on the free dole sure does not deserve it. You do not have POOR people. You have alcoholics, dopers and people who have never worked and never intend to work that know how to work the system. If the people who are getting welfare checks had to show up every day and pee in a bottle and pass the drug and booze test to get help it would cut the welfare rolls by 90%. Why do you think taxpayers should contribute money for these people. Low paid workers know they cant sent their kids to college. I could not send mine to college. I was a single mother working at Boeing. (For the record, I was married when I had them, all had the same father, but he died of cancer). We were poor. I would write a check for food and hoped that check did not clear before my Boeing check did. I was the youngest of 12 children during the depression. but want to add here that I did get a scholarship to go to any college in Montana. I got it because I had a 4.0 grade average and was the valedictorian of my class in 1941, Victor, Montana. We didn’t get free school lunches, and you could not be poorer than we were. No electricity, running water, but I did not get into any trouble. What you are offering is that if people can somehow stay on welfare, til their kids are old enough to go to college they can go free. 2.0 is actually flunking. What is a college going to do with those kids? Maybe put them to work handing out free welfare debit cards, no questions asked like they do at DHSH. These kids can get a felony plea bargained down because they will have free lawyers. Hope this is the thing that tips the ice burg. Shame on you for thinking this is right. It encourages people to stay on welfare and it does not even require the kids to get a 4.0 grade. I know you don’t read a thing I send, and I will get a copy of a website page from some staff member but needed to write it down and have a paper trail.

Lilly – Seattle