EzGreensboro News: Mary Vigue

Showing posts with label Mary Vigue. Show all posts

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Ponzi needs a new town; Jul 25, 2016 4:59 AM; "Say Yes to Education" program could mean free college for Louisville students"

Going to college for free could soon be a reality for some students in low-income families.

A meeting is planned Monday afternoon to explain the "Say Yes To Education" program being discussed. The program has worked in other cities, and Louisville is being considered.

...The "Say Yes To Education" program is a non-profit that works with school districts and local governments to provide money for full-tuition scholarships.

Remember when Greensboro was told about full-tuition scholarships?

That means every is penny paid, plus the resources to help kids get to college. Families in need are given a priority.

...Each city must fund an endowment made up of public and private dollars. JCPS says it will need about $100 million in funding to support all of the scholarships..."

...George Weiss promised 112 Philadelphia sixth graders that if they graduated from high school, he’d pay their college tuition. But he didn’t just offer money, he also offered support so that the students were ready to make the most of that opportunity.

That program has grown into “Say Yes,” a national foundation that helps entire communities - like Buffalo, Syracuse, and Guilford County, N.C. - give every child in the community meaningful support toward college.

Meaningful support?

That's not what Susan Ladd etc... said

Now, they are interested in bringing their model to another city and Louisville is in the running to be selected...."

http://www.wdrb.com/story/32519314/say-yes-to-education-program-could-mean-free-college-for-louisville-students
.
.

Jun 29, 2016; Louisville, Kentucky's Jefferson County Public Schools; "School district proposes partnership with non-profit Say Yes to Education"

SAY YES WILL KICK IN ABOUT $15 MILLION OVER FIVE YEARS

BUT EACH MADE UP OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE DOLLARS.

So now Say Yes to Education has $15 million for both Guilford County

and Jefferson County Public Schools?

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/07/jun-29-2016-louisville-kentuckys.html

Gag order and censorship for Guilford County teachers by Say Yes to Education and Angela Jackson of Guilford County's Association of Educators

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/07/gag-order-and-censorship-for-guilford.html

Say Yes to Education Red Flag; Mary Vigue; She is about to be in charge of more than $25 million for a 'non-profit' after shafting City of Greensboro employees out of investment fee cuts

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/10/say-yes-to-education-red-flag-mary.html

Richard (Skip) Moore's misleading statements; "8 Things to Know About "Say Yes To Education"

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/07/richard-skip-moores-misleading.html

Sunday, July 10, 2016; Oblivious Buffalo News Editorial Board "Say Yes is leading a vital improvement in the number of college-bound students"

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/07/oblivious-buffalo-news-editorial-board.html

Monday, July 11, 2016; Say Yes To Education-- The E-Mails, Part 5

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/07/say-yes-to-education-e-mails-part-5.html

Harriet Tubman On Say Yes To Education

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/07/harriet-tubman-on-say-yes-to-education.html

Tuesday, July 5, 2016; Why did the Hartford Chapter of Say Yes close in June 2005?

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/07/why-did-hartford-chapter-of-say-yes.html

Thursday, June 30, 2016; Say Yes to Education's amazing, quite unbelievable investment performance; This is a George Weiss special

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/06/say-yes-to-educations-amazing-quite.html

Thursday, June 30, 2016; John Hammer on new Guilford County Schools Superintendent Sharon Contreras and Say Yes to Education

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/06/john-hammer-on-new-guilford-county.html

Wednesday, June 29, 2016; Please ask Greensboro's City Council, Guilford County's Commissioners and School Board a version of the following questions

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/06/please-ask-greensboros-city-council.html

Wednesday, June 29, 2016; New Guilford County Schools Superintendent Sharon Contreras' = Say Yes to Education, Say Yes Guilford and Say Yes Syracuse = Say Yes now owns Guilford County Schools

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/06/new-guilford-county-schools.html

Wednesday, June 29, 2016; WEDNESDAY, JULY 29TH 2015; "The Say Yes to Education program has closed its Syracuse office"

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/06/wednesday-july-29th-2015-say-yes-to.html

Thursday, June 30, 2016; Say Yes To Education-- The E-mails: Part 1

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/06/say-yes-to-education-e-mails-part-1.html

Friday, July 1, 2016; Say Yes To Education-- The E-mails: Part 2

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/07/say-yes-to-education-e-mails-part-2.html

If Say Yes Guilford has $35 million,...

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/07/if-say-yes-guilford-has-35-million.html

$832,000 Payoff; "Buffalo Public Schools award the contract to Say Yes for community program"

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/07/832000-payoff-buffalo-public-schools.html

Say Yes to Education Correspondence

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/07/say-yes-to-education-correspondance.html

Say Yes to Education information request for Guilford County Schools

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/10/say-yes-to-education-information.html

The salaries of some Yes to Education Executives, which just took Guilford County for more than $25 million

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-salaries-of-some-yes-to-education.html

Mary Anne Schmitt-Carey; President at Say Yes to Education, Inc.; Professional Fundraising Organization

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/10/mary-anne-schmitt-carey-president-at.html

David Colin; Just Say Yes raises lots of questions

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2015/10/david-colin-just-say-yes-raises-lots-of.html

City of Greensboro Public Information Request on Say Yes to Education; "Say Yes to Education designee on the Operating Committee, Scholarship Board and Community Leadership Council"

As the City, on Tuesday, November 17, 2015, admitted a government employee is "a designee on the Operating Committee, Scholarship Board and Community Leadership Council and through the development of taskforces", please identify the employee for each committee and provide all documents and communications of said employee or employees with anyone with Say Yes to Education, Say Yes Guilford, anyone from Guilford County Schools concerning Say Yes, anyone from Guilford County's government concerning Say Yes, and any contacts with Mary Vigue and Donnie Turlington both before and after Vigue and Turlington's employment with the City, from January 1, 2015 to the present.

Please provide the information by electronic means.

Thanks,

Billy

George 'Say Yes to Education' Weiss and Associates;"...the hedge fund portfolio reportedly returned more than 50% per year on an annual basis", except for when it didn't

http://hedgetracker.com/article/George-Weiss-Associates-to-launch-new-multistrategy-offering

http://www.symmetric.io/hedge-fund/WEISS-MULTI-STRATEGY-ADVISERS-L-RATING.html

http://www.octafinance.com/weiss-multi-strategy-advisers-just-filed-its-q1-2015-portfolio/

From $4.6 Billion to $2.5 billion;

http://www.octafinance.com/hedge-funds/weiss-multi-strategy-advisers-llc/

And as of 06/30/2016, Weiss' fund is $1,239,592,000 smaller than 2015Q2;

http://whalewisdom.com/filer/weiss-multi-strategy-advisers-llc

Beware of asset managers bleeding investor cash

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

WILLIAM BAKER JONES v. THE CITY OF GREENSBORO, NANCY VAUGHAN and JIM WESTMORELAND

1. Pursuant to Rules 3, 7 and 8 of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure, complaining of the defendants, Plaintiff alleges and says; This is an action pursuant to the North Carolina Public Records Law, Chapter 132 of the General Statutes which seeks to compel the City of Greensboro to disclose public records under North Carolina Law.

...2. Plaintiff William Baker Jones is the proprietor of EZGreensboro News and Record, an investigative local news and opinion outlet covering North Carolina, Guilford County and The City of Greensboro at EZGreensboro.com...

3. In the course of gathering information about the policies and actions of Greensboro's government, Plaintiff and his staff regularly make use of and rely on North Carolina Public Records Law to gain access to government documents, records and information owned by the public. Compliance with Public Records Laws on the part of the defendants and other public officials is critical to the Plaintiffs' work advocating for the best interests of our community, county and state.

...We have been thwarted in our aim to provide readers with accurate, timely and thorough information and comment concerning Defendant’s decisions, actions and policies.

Plaintiff's alternative online news outlet received over 242,630 page views between January 1, 2016 and July 31, 2016, which equates to 34,661 per month or about 1,155 per day at EZGreensboro.com. Plaintiff's best guesstimate of actual readers, considering 8,087 page hits per week, is probably somewhere between 2,000 and 4,000 readers every seven days. Considering 7,157 Greensboro residents voted in October 6, 2015's City Council primary, if there are only 1,500 local EZGreensboro News and Record readers per week, EZGreensboro.com appears to be in a position to reach and inform somewhere in the 20% range of the total 2015 primary voters within the City.

...10. Since October 19, 2015, Mayor Vaughan and Manager Westmoreland, sometimes in league with former Greensboro Assistant City Manager Mary Vigue and former Greensboro Communications Director Donnie Turlington, violated Public Records Law repeatedly on multiples of instances in response to public information requests for the benefit of former City Assistant Manager Mary Vigue and former City of Greensboro Communications Director Donnie Turlingon, among others.

11. These violations include, but are not limited to:

a. failing or refusing to furnish requesters with copies of requested public records "as promptly as possible" on multiples of requests;

b. failing or refusing to permit the inspection and examination of public records at reasonable times and under reasonable supervision;

c. denying or concealing the existence of public records on multiples of items.

12. The defendants' behaviors suggest, and therefore Plaintiff believes and alleges, that some or all of the violations described above are consequences of concerted policies and practices adopted and followed by the defendants for the purpose of avoiding or circumventing the Public Records Law and discouraging or intimidating public records requesters.

13. These policies and practices include, but are not limited to:

...14. PIRT #5180, submitted by EZGreensboro staff as directed by Plaintiff on October 19, 2015 stated “please provide all communications and documentation between city councilman Tony Wilkins and anyone else for the last 90 days. Please look at both Mr. Wilkins' private and public email addresses”, has not been fulfilled.

Plaintiff has also requested the following from the City;

a. Triad City Beat’s PIRT #5309, "Civil Emergency" by Eric Ginsburg, which has not been fulfilled since 12/4/2015.

b. Downtown property owner Eric Robert's PIRT #5418, "dgi", which has not been fulfilled since 1/24/2016.

c. Yes Weekly’ PIRT #5754, "Zack Matheny" by Jeff Sykes, which has not been fulfilled since 5/18/2016.

d. Jeff Sykes’ PIRT #5619, "Cascade Saloon", which has not been fulfilled since 4/5/2016.

e. Plaintiff's PIRT #5782, "Marty Kotis", which has not been fulfilled since 5/27/2016.

f. PIRT #5181, submitted by EZGreensboro staff as directed by Plaintiff on October 19, 2015 stated “please provide all communications between Zack Matheny and anyone at the city including city council members private email addresses for the last 90 days”, which has not been fulfilled.

g. PIRT #5226, submitted by EZGreensboro staff as directed by Plaintiff on November 2, 2015 stated “Please provide any documents and/or communications between anyone in the City's executive office area and anyone from Say Yes to Education for the last 120 days”, which totaled 1,108 emails according to the City of Greensboro, which has not been fulfilled.

15. To Plaintiff's knowledge, Plaintiff's review of Say Yes to Education's publicly available IRS form 990's indicates the 'non-profit's' investments are located in "CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN", and invested in Say Yes to Education founder George Weiss' Weiss Multi-Strategy fund, from which Say Yes Guilford has been promised $15 million. Plaintiff's review of Weiss' publicly available asset returns for Weiss' Multi-Strategy fund found investment returns which didn’t correspond to returns found within Yes to Education's non-profit IRS filings. Plaintiff recently filed complaint #16SEC093 with North Carolina Secretary of State's Securities Division concerning Say Yes Guilford and Say Yes to Education.

16. On October 26, 2015, Triad Business Journal's Katie Arcieri wrote "After a career with the city of Greensboro that began in 2006, Mary Vigue was recently tapped as the executive director of the local chapter of Say Yes to Education..."

17. To Plaintiff's knowledge, Say Yes to Education and Greensboro City Manager Jim Westmoreland, who along with Nancy Vaughan and City Council, coordinated low cost publicly funded office space for Say Yes Guilford, whose staff includes former City Assistant Manager Mary Vigue and former City of Greensboro Communications Director Donnie Turlingon, who have declined to provide EZGreensboro News and Record with 2014's Say Yes to Education's 990 tax return after being asked for the document in writing on October, 20, 2015 and again on July 19, 2016. Say Yes Guilford was also asked for the 2014 990 and its conflict of interest policy and ethics code on October 20, 2015, which has not been provided with Westmoreland and Vaughan's knowledge.

18. On Wednesday, May 18, 2016 at 11:12 AM, Plaintiff received an email from City of Greensboro Public Records Administrator Katherine Carter, stating "Dear Mr. Jones, Thank you for your public records request. Per your request, I have made a note in our system to send you a copy of the response to PIRT 5180, 5181, 5226... upon their completion. I will be in touch with you once these requests have been finished", which have not been concluded in a reasonable amount of time, on top of unreasonable terms beforehand on multiples of requests.

19. To Plaintiff's knowledge, part time City of Greensboro Public Records Administrator Katherine Carter was Say Yes Guilford's Director of Communications Donnie Turlington's former employee directly before and/or after Turlington was City of Greensboro's Communications and Marketing Director in a similar time frame as former City of Greensboro Assistant Manager Mary Vigue was identified as a member of the Say Yes to Education Planning Group for Greensboro before resigning her City post to become Say Yes Guilford's Executive Director for Say Yes to Education.

...these instances disclose patterns and practices of delay, obfuscation, non-responsiveness, foot-dragging and stonewalling on the part of Vaughan, Westmoreland, Vigue and Turlington concerning former employees Vigue and Turlington and a select few City Council campaign contributors who are now personally profiting from their former and current positions which effectively defeats and defies the public policy of transparent and open government underlying Public Records Law.

21. Based on the patterns and practices described above, Plaintiff believes and alleges the defendants' concerted and repeated violations of the Public Records Law constitute willful and contumacious failures by the defendants to carry out the mandatory and prescribed duties of their respective...

WHEREFORE, the plaintiffs respectfully pray that the court:

23. Set the matter down for an immediate hearing pursuant to G.S. § 132-9(a);

24. Enter an order in the nature of a writ of mandamus to inferior government officials ordering the government officials to properly fulfill their official duties or correct an abuse of discretion requiring the defendants and all persons acting at their direction or in concert with them to comply with North Carolina Public Records Law, including G.S. § 132-6(a), (See, e.g. Cheney v. United States Dist. Court For D.C. (03-475) 542 U.S. 367 (2004) 334 F.3d 1096.);

25. Enter an order pursuant to G.S. § 132-9(a) compelling the defendants to make available any and all public records requested by Plaintiff and others that are determined by the court to be within the City's custody or control, and that have not been previously made available in compliance with G.S. § 132-6;

26. Enter an order declaring that certain policies and practices adopted and followed by the defendants are in violation of the Public Records Law;

Plaintiff further prays the court provide him with such further and additional relief as the court shall deem to be just, proper and authorized by law, and that the costs of this action be taxed against defendants Westmoreland and Vaughan.

Signed this the 16th day of August, 2016;

William Baker Jones
Pro Se

Update: Scanned images of the 3 envelopes showing the lawsuit was sent by Certified Mail.

Court documents as filed with Guilford County Superior Court.

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

What Greensboro's City Council and Staff didn't/don't/won't watch out for, for their own employees' retirement plan

"...Paying too much: You have to care about expenses. They are the most predictable characteristic of explaining future returns of funds, experts say. And expenses are a more reliable signal than past performance.

They don't care about their own employees

Choosing the right mutual fund is different from choosing stocks, because you're effectively choosing a money manager rather than a management team. Controlling costs is key to successful fund investing.

They had the chance to do the right thing,

and they didn't do it

It can’t be said enough: with funds, costs matter. Annual expenses eat into total return, year after year. With high-cost funds, you pay more and pocket less. Moreover, studies show that low-expense funds are more likely to outperform their costlier counterparts over time..."

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-to-buy-mutual-funds-2016-07-24

If you are a City of Greensboro employee,

Nancy Vaughan, Nancy Hofmann, Tony Wilkins, Justin Outling, Jamal Fox,

Mike Barber, Yvonne Johnson, Sharon Hightower, Marikay Abuzuaiter,

Connie Hammond, Rick Lusk, Jim Westmoreland

Mary Vigue and Donnie Turlington are directly responsible for your not making more

in your ICMA-RC 457 retirement plan

They chose Wall Street over those they have a responsibility to represent

Friday, August 5, 2016

More on what Say Yes to Education promised Guilford County students and parents

"...Community foundations and affluent families raised about 40 percent of the $70 million endowment needed to make permanent a no-strings-attached tuition promise for all students in the school district, which is larger than Atlanta's and struggles with poverty.

The Say Yes scholarships would cover tuition bills remaining after Pell Grants and other aid has been tallied for students attending in-state public universities or community colleges regardless of family income. Similar community-wide Say Yes scholarship efforts in Buffalo and Syracuse provided awards last spring averaging $3,449 and $3,304, respectively, the organization said.

Was the reporter provided evidence,

or did he or she just take their word for it?

The tuition money for graduates of the district, which includes the city of Greensboro, will come from interest earned off the local endowment...

Which probably has no more than $30 million actually on hand,

as the donations from large foundations come over a series of years

just like Say Yes to Education's six year $15 million promise

Guilford County's schools comprise the state's third-largest behind those in Wake and Mecklenburg counties, but its 72,000 students still rank it among the country's top 50 ahead of Atlanta, Boston and San Francisco, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. About two-thirds of the district's students are in poverty. About 41 percent of students are black, 35 percent are white and 13 percent are Hispanic.

$3,000 per child for about 4,000? Guilford County students

= $12,000,000 from $30 million?

What are they going to do when the number of student double in the second year,

and again in the fourth?

4,000 students is only about 5.5% of the 72,000 total

72,000 / 12 grades = 6,000

Say Yes Guilford won't say how much is being given to how many

Won't say how much money they actually have

Won't say what it's invested in, or how much is being charged

Richard Skip Moore has actively prevented the information from being disseminated

Donnie Turlington and Mary Vigue won't tell anyone

Say Yes is the brainchild of New York money manager George Weiss, who began the philanthropy in 1987 after committing to help 112 Philadelphia sixth graders to graduate high school and pay for their higher education. Weiss, who lives in Miami and West Hartford, Connecticut, personally contributed or invested for the foundation a pool of money worth about $275 million, he said.

Proof?

"My dreams and goals is this should be in dozens of cities," said Weiss, 72, who attended the announcement.

More than 100 private colleges involved with the Say Yes network provide full-tuition scholarships and sometimes more to students who meet entrance requirements and come from families with annual incomes below $75,000.

The Say Yes organization will work through a local chapter to seed local programs with $15 million over the next six years

How much so far?

No one knows

http://www.syracuse.com/schools/index.ssf/2015/09/say_yes_to_education_expanding_to_north_carolina.html
.
.
Say Yes invests $15 million over 5 years to help seed and expand key supports, to develop common measures, and to fund a small core staff to coordinate work across silos.

So $15 million over five years instead of six?

A Local Scholarship Endowment would provide last dollar tuition scholarships for all graduates of Guilford County Schools to attend N.C. state colleges and universities. These last dollar tuition scholarships would close the gap between grants and aid like Pell Grants, other scholarships, and the cost of in-state tuition. All Guilford County School graduates would be eligible regardless of family income. Students with Pell Grants that cover the full cost of tuition would be eligible for Opportunity Grants to assist with other college costs.

Students whose families have annual incomes of $75,000 or less receive last dollar tuition guarantees directly from the college or university.

Students who are admitted and have income greater than $75,000 receive a $5,000 annual Choice scholarship from the local endowment.

Are they going to rig how many get "admitted"?

Say Yes to Education Planning Group: Felicia Andrews Guilford Parent Academy Title 1 Parent Representative Ann Busby Community Volunteer, GEA Board Member Nora Carr GCS Chief of Staff Greg Demko High Point City Manager Karen Dyer Group Director, Education & Non Profit Sector, Center for Creative Leadership Mona Edwards COO, The Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro, GEA Board Member Annette Galloway President, Guilford County Council of PTAs Elizabeth Foster President, Guilford County Association of Educators, GCS Teacher Barbara Frye Vice President, Children’s Initiatives, United Way of Greater High Point Joyce Gilliard Guilford Parent Academy Title 1 Parent Representative Sheila Gorham Principal, Allen Middle School, GCS Principal of the Year Kevin Gray President, Weaver Foundation, GEA Board Member Clarence Grier Deputy Guilford County Manager Michael Halford Guilford County Budget Director Steve Hayes Executive Director, Guilford Non-Profit Consortium Addy Jeffrey Community Volunteer, Parent and Student Advocate

Frank McCain Vice President, Community Investment & Impact, United Way of Greater Greensboro

Winston McGregor GEA Executive Director David Miller President, DS Miller, Inc., GEA Board Member Joel Mills CEO, Advanced Home Care Skip Moore Community Volunteer, GEA Board Member Meredith Mull Guilford County Council of PTAs Representative

Mindy Oakley Executive Director, Edward M. Armfield, Sr. Foundation,

GEA Board Member Alan Parker Principal, Southwest High School Keith G. Pemberton Social Worker, Oak Hill Elementary School

Robert Pompey CFO, NC A&T University,

GEA Board Member Amos Quick Vice Chair, Guilford County Board of Education, Senior Pastor: Calvary Baptist Church, High Point, Associate Pastor, New Light Missionary Baptist Church, Greensboro Mary Vigue Assistant City Manager, City of Greensboro

For additional information please contact: Winston McGregor, Executive Director, Nora Carr, Chief of Staff Lynn Wooten, VP Marketing & Communications Guilford Education Alliance Guilford County Schools The Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro

wmcgregor@guilfordeducationalliance.org

carrn@gcsnc.com

lwooten@cfgg.org

336-841-4332 336-370-8106 336-790-7812

Visit the Guilford Says Yes website for more information!

https://guilfordeducationalliance.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/say-yes-backgrounder-july-2015.pdf
.
.
‘Say Yes to Education’ Free College Program Comes to Guilford, NC

National nonprofit Say Yes to Education has announced the opening of its newest chapter in Guilford County, North Carolina, which allows access to a free college education for thousands of students independent of their family’s income.

The program will offer free tuition to any graduate of a Guilford County school as long as they have spent a few years within the school system and are attending a public college or university in-state. The funds will be available for 2016, allowing this year’s senior class to participate.

...Say Yes will pay 100% of the total cost of attending an in-state public college that is not already met through federal or state aid. Some private schools are covered as well, with 100 institutions across 22 states agreeing to participate if the family’s total income is less than $75,000, reports Sarah Kreuger for FOX8.

...“As someone who could not have attended college without a scholarship, I know first hand how transformative that commitment can be in the life of a young person,’’ said George Weiss, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania who founded Say Yes in 1987...

“I am especially gratified today to see the way Guilford County has embraced the promise of Say Yes,” said George, a money manager with offices in New York City and Hartford, Conn., and chairman of Say Yes...

The county will become the third chapter for the program which first began in Syracuse, New York in 2008. A second chapter was opened in Buffalo, New York in 2012. The addition of Guilford County will double the number of students who qualify for the program, offering full-tuition scholarships and support services to bring the total close to 140,000.

Why did the Philadelphia Chapter close in 2000?

Why did the Cambridge, MA Chapter close in 2008?

What happened to the New York, NY Chapter which opened in 2004?

The organization also announced a new partnership with Guilford College, which, as a result, will offer free tuition to eligible students.

http://www.educationnews.org/higher-education/say-yes-to-education-free-college-program-comes-to-guilford-nc/
.
.
Why are most of Say Yes to Education's investments located in George Weiss' fund, whose assets are located in "CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN"?

"Guilford County selected as 'Say Yes' community

Under the program, county students accepted to and enrolled in a one-, two-, or four-year degree public university or certificate program would be provided with scholarship funding from the local endowment to cover tuition that isn’t covered by other grants and scholarships.

Accepted students whose families earn more than the $75,000 threshold would be eligible for up to $5,000 a year from the local endowment to help pay for private college tuition.

Say Yes has already committed about $1 million toward feasibility studies. The group will commit an additional $15 million as part of its official selection of Guilford County...

The county has been selected at a time when local officials have raised $32.5 million toward the local scholarship endowment, surpassing the required threshold of $28 million to be selected as a Say Yes community. McGregor said the community plans to raise an additional $37.5 million toward the goal of bringing total scholarship endowment dollars to $70 million within the next 15 months.

Let's say $70 million is in hand;

$12 million / $70 million for year one for 4,000 students at $3,000 a piece

= about a 17% payout before the number about doubles the next year

How can it be sustainable if the endowment burns through all the cash?

Ask Katie;

Katie Arcieri covers manufacturing, transportation/logistics, aviation, textiles, tobacco and furniture. Contact her at 336-370-2913.

For some odd reason, Katie and Susan Ladd and the rest of the local news outfits

aren't interested in the answers

http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/news/2015/09/17/guilford-county-selected-as-say-yes-community.html

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Remember what they told the kids; "Guilford County Says YES to Education - and Yes to College Tuition!"

If they're in kindergarten through sixth grade,

and graduate with that continuous enrollment, they're eligible for 100 percent,

and then it goes down from there

Say Yes Guilford Executive Director Mary Vigue

"...Say Yes Guilford County is the newest chapter of Say Yes to Education, a national nonprofit organization that works with an wide range of of community partners that gives students enrolled in Guilford County Schools access to “last dollar” tuition scholarships to college and other post secondary programs. It also provides academic and non-academic support services to help ensure students perform at their maximums, and are, as a result, prepared for that opportunity.

In the case of a two-year or four-year North Carolina public college or university, Say Yes provides a last dollar tuition scholarship to cover the tuition costs not covered by Federal Pell Grants and need-based state grant aid or academic scholarships granted by the institutions themselves..."

http://www.realtorguarantee.com/currie%20realty-say-yes-to%20education-guilford.html

"Realtors Partner with 'Say Yes Guilford' Scholarship Program

A scholarship program in Guilford County is now having an impact on more than just students.

Area realtors are also benefiting from Say Yes to Education.

As I left the gym, Ragsdale student Dominique Parker and his friends

paused on their way to PE.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Parker asked. “Did we win something?”

“Yes,” I said. “You just won a free college education. All of you.”

After a second of silence, they all started asking questions at once.

“For real?”

“Not just community college?”

“If you graduate and get accepted to college,

your tuition will be paid to the last dollar,” I said.

Susan Ladd

Let's make the most of Say Yes

Greensboro News and Record

Carol Lowe is a realtor with Coldwell Banker in Greensboro, and is thrilled about a new logo at the top of her for sale signs.

"We should see a real increase in home sale numbers, as well as potentially an increase in property values,” Lowe said. “As a realtor, I think that's really exciting!"

"We developed our logo on there so that they could place them on for sale signs as a way to communicate with people who are looking to purchase homes in Guilford County, and that it's eligible for our program,” said Say Yes Guilford Executive Director Mary Vigue.

Through donations, the Say Yes to Education Guilford program is able to provide scholarships to eligible graduates as they get ready for college.

It's based on a students' length of time in the school system.

"If they're in kindergarten through sixth grade, and graduate with that continuous enrollment, they're eligible for 100 percent, and then it goes down from there,” Vigue said.

Lowe says the program has already proven successful not only for realtors, but businesses as well in the communities Say Yes is already established in: Buffalo and Syracuse. She's hoping Guilford County follows the same pattern.

"Businesses came in because they wanted to participate,” Lowe said. “They felt it was a real benefit to their workforce. They not only brought in people, but those people bought houses. The economy grew."

Meantime, the new for sale sign additions are already paying off.

"I've had success with the ones I've put the signs on bringing attention to Say Yes going under contract pretty quickly,” Lowe said."

"The more people we get moving into the community, the more engaged we become, and the more successful we'll be,” Vigue said.

If they're in kindergarten through sixth grade,

and graduate with that continuous enrollment, they're eligible for 100 percent,

and then it goes down from there

Say Yes Guilford Executive Director Mary Vigue

The program has already raised $36 million for Guilford County students.

http://www.twcnews.com/nc/triad/news/2016/07/21/realtors-partner-with-say-yes-guilford-scholarship-program.html

“That is dope,” another student said, shaking his head.

Indeed it is.

The dreams of all students are now within reach.

Starting with the Class of 2016,

graduates of Guilford County Schools

will have the opportunity to go to college and graduate

without taking on crushing debt.

Guilford County, with about 73,000 students,

is the largest school system that Say Yes has taken on.

That number exceeds the total students in Say Yes programs

in Buffalo, N.Y., and Syracuse, N.Y., combined.

http://www.greensboro.com/blogs/around_town/susan-ladd-let-s-make-the-most-of-say-yes/article_4327d06c-1591-5cd5-a106-e3d7fa40388c.html

"...Say Yes to Education, a nonprofit organization with a proven record of success, is offering our community $15 million and the expertise to set up a program that provides services to help prepare students for college and the money to help them go. That is, last-dollar scholarships — full tuition after grants and financial aid — for every graduate of Guilford County Schools.

...Foundations, corporations and community members have raised nearly $26 million to start an endowment. The city of Greensboro, the Guilford County school board and the city of High Point all committed to get involved in the program.

...Say Yes is not asking the county to commit a dime at this point.

Every public school parent and anyone who cares about the economic well-being of our community should call, write and attend meetings to tell the commissioners not to stand in the way of an opportunity that would benefit 83 percent of Guilford County students.

...We should pledge ourselves to making this program work. Not with “I’ll think about it” or “if you do this.”

The answer should be an unequivocal “yes.”

http://www.greensboro.com/blogs/around_town/susan-ladd-commissioners-place-demands-on-say-yes-initiative/article_8ec79d93-2a10-5651-8fa2-19784746c19b.html
.
.
At first glance, it would seem that the campaign to bring the Say Yes to Education program to Guilford County is the political equivalent of an easy layup or slam dunk in a basketball game.

The program offers great promise — providing free tuition to every public high school graduate in the county.

Guilford County would be selected from 14,000 possible locations across the United States, which were narrowed to 26 districts for full contention and then three finalists.

In addition, the national Say Yes program would pump $15 million into the county during the next five years...

pjohnson@hpenews.com | 888-3528 | @HPEpaul

Ready for launch

...• Guilford County has been the leading candidate for the next full-scale program for Say Yes, which provides free tuition to all public high school graduates in a community.

• Say Yes would provide a full tuition scholarship to any Guilford County Schools high school graduate who chooses to attend a public college in the University of North Carolina system. The graduates would be eligible regardless of family income level.

• If a county high school graduate chooses to attend a private college eligible through Say Yes, the student would receive full tuition reimbursement if from a family with an annual income of $75,000 or less. Private college students from a family with an income greater than $75,000 receive a $5,000 annual scholarship.

http://www.hpenews.com/charter-school-issue-nearly-scuttled-say-yes/article_d666ff3c-5405-11e5-8aa4-93c2082bde95.html
.
.

Ponzi needs a new town; Jul 25, 2016 4:59 AM; "Say Yes to Education" program could mean free college for Louisville students"

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/07/ponzi-needs-new-town-jul-25-2016-459-am.html

How it began in Guilford County, only different; "City, schools working on $100 million effort to provide free college to Louisvillians"

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/07/how-it-began-in-guilford-county-only.html

Gag order and censorship for Guilford County teachers by Say Yes to Education and Angela Jackson of Guilford County's Association of Educators

http://greensboroperformingarts.blogspot.com/2016/07/gag-order-and-censorship-for-guilford.html

Say Yes to Education Red Flag; Mary Vigue; She is about to be in charge of more than $25 million for a 'non-profit' after shafting City of Greensboro employees out of investment fee cuts