Sponsor |  rieraci | Dec 26, 2007 8:49pm | Mayor Luke announced in the spring that the City and School District would start a Pittsburgh Promise program that would fund city school grads through college, tied to attendance and grade average. A free ride is a great idea and could really help stem the family flight to private, parochial, & 'burb schools, but it would take an endowment estimated at $250,000,000 to work. Up until a couple of weeks ago, all they had was the teacher's union gift of $50,000.
Then UPMC, the "non-profit" that made over $600M in non-profits last year, stepped up. They said they'd donate $10M straight up and match every $1.50 raised with a $1 of their own up to $90M more over the next ten years. Cool beans, hey? Just one little catch - they wanted tax credits to carry forward, even tho they're not taxable. Hmmmmm? They were covering their butt in case the non profits ever lost enough clout in Harrisburg that they would have to pay local taxes sometime down the road. And of course if they got it, every group that gave would get it, whether non profit or for profit. The end result would be that the City taxpayers would carry the load because their rates would have to cover the loot that went to the scholarship fund instead of city coffers. As we're already under state oversight, that went over like a lead balloon.
UPMC, which is not a stranger to the slings and arrows of people wondering why their aspirin costs $125 while the hospitals are rolling in dough, took enough of a PR hit to announce today that they were dropping the tax credit requirement and would give the grant as a charitable donation. So right now, all's well that ends well, and we'll see if this lights a fire under our lackluster group of city scholars. Great idea on paper, and Luke gets to hand out scholarships when he's up for reelection in 2009. Who sez good government and good politics can't mix, hehe? |
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