Calling Upon the Pennsylvania General Assembly to Approve HB 1722 Establishing the REACH Program--Reliable Educational Assistance for College Hopefuls--Allowing Pennsylvania High School Students that Perform Well in High School to Attend State Universities Tuition-Free.

WHEREAS, On July 27, 2007, State Representative Payton, D-Phila., joined by House Speaker Dennis O’Brien, announced the establishment of the REACH Program--Reliable Educational Assistance for College Hopefuls; and

WHEREAS, The REACH Program will provide Pennsylvania students who have demonstrated academic excellence the opportunity to attend college; and

WHEREAS, The Program also provides for a statewide merit-based scholarship program for all students in Pennsylvania who maintain at least a 3.0 grade-point average and a 90 percent attendance record; and

WHEREAS, The program would ensure those students would receive a scholarship covering all tuition and fees to any university in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education; and

WHEREAS, Representative Tony Payton has explained the need for the Program by saying, “I believe that all responsible students who exhibit a passion for learning in high school should be given the opportunity to continue their intellectual development. The REACH program would do that by providing a full scholarship, covering tuition and fees, to all qualified high school students, regardless of economic background, gender, race and/or religious affiliation. Every public, private and parochial school student who meets the base criteria would be eligible for a scholarship”; and

WHEREAS, The REACH Program

would be an investment in the state’s future and reverse the trend of

students seeking higher education outside of the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS,

The Pennsylvania General Assembly should support enactment of HB 1722 because, in Representative Payton’s words, it will

give, “Pennsylvania’s best and brightest an incentive to stay in-state both during and after college [and]…create a stronger tax base of young professionals, encourage economic growth and combat the population crisis that threatens Pennsylvania’s economic future.”; now therefore, be it,

RESOLVED, THAT THE CITY COUNCIL OF PHILADELPHIA, Hereby calls upon the Pennsylvania General Assembly to Approve HB 1722

Establishing the REACH Program--Reliable Educational Assistance for College Hopefuls--Allowing Pennsylvania High School Students that Perform Well in High School to Attend State Universities Tuition-Free.

End