 |
| while he waiting to see of he is going to be indicted for the theft of $132,000 from Cook County, Gov. Pritzker likes to spend his time shaming parents that are trying to get financial aid for their children |
Pritzker vows to ‘root’ out parents scamming system for college financial aid for their kids: ‘Shame on you’
“If people are defrauding the system, these wealthy parents are literally committing fraud here,” the governor said. “We need to go find them, root it out and make sure that those dollars go to the right people.”
By Tina Sfondeles Jul 31, 2019, 4:54pm CDT
Gov. J.B. Pritzker vowed Wednesday to investigate the “fraud” uncovered in a ProPublica Illinois investigation that found well-off Chicago families gave up legal guardianship of their teenage children to qualify for financial aid earmarked for the needy.
Pritzker had a simple message for any parents who took part in the scam: “Shame on you.”
“If people are defrauding the system, these wealthy parents are literally committing fraud here,” Pritzker said at a Chicago news conference. “We need to go find them, root it out and make sure that those dollars go to the right people.”
ProPublica Illinois reported this week that dozens of suburban Chicago families — and potentially more
— have given up legal guardianship of their teenage children to qualify for federal, state and university aid. If parents give up guardianship before the teenagers turn 18, the children can independently file for aid.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General has recommended modifying the language on federal financial aid forms following disclosure of the scam, ProPublica Illinois also reported.
“It’s terrible, and I, immediately upon reading it, this report, I called up my staff and am working through my administration to investigate how widespread this problem is in Illinois,” Pritzker said.
The governor noted the Illinois General Assembly this year increased the number of students receiving Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants by 10,000. The grants, which do not have to be repaid, are intended to go to Illinois residents who attend approved Illinois colleges and demonstrate financial need, based on the information provided on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.
“We want it to go to the students who are most in need, not to people who are defrauding the system,” Pritzker said. “So we need to look into it to make sure that we’re identifying people that are doing this, calling it out and making sure we’re preventing it from happening in the future.”
Pritzker said the tactic is taking public resources away from students who actually need it, and away from an already limited pool of resources available in the state’s MAP grant program.
“We’ve increased that just this year, but there’s still a limited amount. There are more people applying for Monetary Assistance [Award] Program money than there are dollars that we can provide,” Pritzker said.
We had more than ample time to see JumBo Pritzker coming. His year and a half self promoting campaign prior to the election, his throwing his alcoholic mother under the bus in his ads, his claims of feeding minority children breakfast and in spite of the obvious fiction presented in those countless commercials he still managed to get elected. Probably the only truism that came from former Governor Rauner during a debate with Pritzker was his assessment that Pritzker never had a job in his life. And without fat shaming the governor he appears to be a person who never met a doughnut or three that he didn't like. And to see the look of pride and giddiness when he signed the legislation about abortion and legalized marijuana tells us all about what he sees as the hallmarks of his administration. Have another doughnut fatso.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe we elected this Madigan puppet
ReplyDeleteNothing surprises me anymore.
DeleteHe's not the only Madigan puppet.
DeleteOur state representatives are also Madigan puppets.
Every piece of their campaign literature comes out of Madigan's warehouse.
He truly doesn't understand that he is far worse than any of this parents trying to help their kids.
ReplyDeleteA true Democrat, do as I say not as I do.
ReplyDeleteHow many local pols scammed the legislature scholarships over the years?
ReplyDeleteCOUNTLESS..….
DeleteRemember the old legislative scholarships to the University of Illinois?
ReplyDeleteOne of our state reps and her kids were caught up in that.