I will be sending this as soon as I get home from work.

June 25, 2009

Governor Perdue,

I am sincerely disheartened by the state of our State. Budget crises, cuts in education, paying 125 girls to not get pregnant.

Can the State truly say it has no money, then offer girls money for being responsible and behaving appropriately? As a 19 year old female who has never been compensated for appropriate decisions such as remaining abstinent in a committed relationship before marriage, this is offensive, along with proof of a wasteful and inefficient government. Six girls in the program have already become pregnant. Bribery is never a real solution. While I understand teen pregnancy is costly for the taxpayers of our state, why are we paying girls to not get pregnant when they are getting pregnant despite the program? Who is to say that a girl cannot successfully complete the program, and get pregnant afterwards? Now, the State has given her an amount that could exceed $2,000, and still have to support her and her child. The program is not offering rocket science or magic ways to not get pregnant. It is basic sex education that the state offers in high school with a support group. I still cannot get over paying girls for doing what they should be doing in the first place! What will the State offer next, money for those who choose not to do drugs, money for students who barely pass high school? No! Those are expectations, not behaviors worthy of a financial reward from an ailing state claiming it has no money! It is less costly for the State to have an educated population, yet we do not pay students to go to college. In fact, they are charged an astonishing amount of money, and forced to pay exceedingly high interest rates on loans. So how does the state have money to grant for girls to not get pregnant?

For the State to be handing away money like this is unacceptable. Teachers are losing their jobs, classroom sizes are barely functional, and college costs are through the roof. By the way, how is the money raised from the Lottery helping education? Where is that money actually going? Why is education always the first thing to be cut? Why not the salaries of you, the governor, and your staff? Why is it that everyone else in the state that has to suffer for the inefficiencies of our government? People wonder why no one wants to be a teacher. Not only is it the horrible pay, but it is the horrible treatment from the State all around, and the entitled attitude of our youth which is being fed by the State through programs like the one mentioned.

May it be clear that I did not vote for you, Ms. Perdue, and you have certainly assured me of why I shall never be a supporter of yours. You have already broken campaign promises, and in the most disrespectful way, addressed those who your lies affected the most. As a former teacher and mother, I simply expected more, Ms. Perdue.

Sincerely,

Lauren Lewis

A Possibly Former Secondary Education Major