CONVICTED OF FELONY, LOSE SHOT AT SCHOOL MONEY

Restrictions On Scholarships Could Soon Change

There's a catch to qualifying for financial aid.

People with a drug or felony conviction often are ineligible for the
generously funded public programs that make college affordable.

Bright Futures, the scholarship paying all or most of tuition to
Florida students with top grades and test scores, is off-limits to
anyone convicted of a felony or to anyone who's pleaded no contest
to a felony charge.

The Pell Grant for low-income students, as well as other federal
financial aid, is generally unavailable to people with a conviction
involving possession or sale of illegal drugs.

"There's a lot of financial aid you can't get if you have a felony,"
said T.K. Wetherell, Florida State University president. "The other
side of it is, how many of us in our lives screwed up something?
Most of us made some mistake in our young lives, then got it all
back together and became productive citizens."

The issue affects college access - with 175,000 applicants refused
federal financial aid since 1998 because of their criminal drug
histories, according to the Washington D.C.-based Legal Action Center.

It's generated a lot less controversy in Florida than the fact that
felons are not allowed to vote.

But the status quo is being agitated by the conservative congressman
who authored the original financial-aid-ineligibility rule for those
guilty of drug crimes.

U.S. Rep. Mark Souder, R-Indiana, wants the provision more narrowly
enforced. He would stop financial aid only if students are caught
with illegal drugs while they're in college. The punishment wouldn't
be retroactive, which is what Souder said he intended all along.

"Congressman Souder abhors any illegal drug use," his press
secretary, Martin Green said. However, "The congressman's original
intent in this provision stipulated it only apply to students
convicted of drug crimes when they're students, not before they apply."

Souder's proposal is part of congressional negotiations over budget
cuts and reauthorization of the federal higher-education act.

Others would repeal financial-aid restrictions altogether, in the
interest of giving a second chance to people to straighten up and
study their way into a better future.

"I don't think it's necessary to come back and add additional
punishment by making it difficult or impossible to get aid to better
themselves through getting higher education," state Rep. Curtis
Richardson, D-Tallahassee, said. His concern is the restrictions
fall hardest on the poor and minorities.

"It really demonstrates the criminalization of addiction," said Pat
Taylor, executive director of Faces and Voices of Recovery in
Washington, D.C. "Once someone has paid a debt to society, instead
of helping them get back on their feet, we're erecting barriers."

But the argument remains: Should taxpayers shell out college aid to
lawbreakers?

State Attorney Willie Meggs of the 2nd Judicial Circuit said it's
unfair to treat everyone the same on scholarships.

"It seems in our society people who get the attention are those who
break the rules, and people who follow the rules get the short end
of the stick," Meggs said. "For me it's a no-brainer to give it the
one who's law-abiding."

Said state Rep. Dennis Baxley, House Education Council chairman, "I
don't think higher education is necessarily an entitlement. It's an
opportunity." Bright Futures is about "excellence in conduct,
staying out of trouble and making good grades," he said.

Bill Spiers, Tallahassee Community College's director of financial
aid, said few students are losing access to financial aid because
there is a waiver in federal law for anyone completing drug treatment.

But denying college aid to the people mostly likely to get bogged
down in poverty, crime and addiction doesn't make sense, others say.
Public Defender Nancy Daniels, also of the 2nd Judicial Circuit,
said it's an even tougher situation with the Florida Legislature
busily turning crimes that once were misdemeanors into felonies.

"It's almost like a permanent stigmatization now in your life, even
if the one offense happened at age 18, it stays your whole life," Daniels said.