CULLMAN — Candidates for Alabama treasurer will be in Cullman Thursday to discuss the state’s ailing prepaid college tuition program and what is needed to fix it.
The meeting, hosted by the Save Alabama PACT organization, will be held at 6 p.m. at the Cullman County Courthouse. The main speakers will be state treasurer candidates George Wallace Jr., Jeremy Sherer and Charles Grimsley.
The public is invited to attend, especially Cullman citizens who have purchased prepaid college tuition plans.
“Each speaker will have five to 15 minutes to give their ideas,” said Mark Persall.
Persall, Cullman resident and member of Save Alabama PACT, bought tuition contracts for his two children.
“The state has had my money for 10 years, and now they are trying to back out,” Persall said. “We just want our kids to have guaranteed tuition.”
According to state statistics, there are 456 PACT contracts between Cullman County residents and the state. The city of Cullman has the most with 313, followed by Hanceville with 46.
Persall noted there were approximately 48,000 total citizens in the state with contracts.
“What we’re hoping is that the contracts will be honored. ... There are 48,000 citizens who would be educated in the state and have college degrees,” Persall said. “They will add to the economic stability of the state.”
The Prepaid Affordable College Tuition (PACT) program is a college savings program administered by the state treasurer’s office. PACT is based on the concept that citizens can pay today for tomorrow’s tuition.
For about 20 years, parents and others have bought contracts in expectation that PACT in future years would pay the college tuition and fees of covered children. However, tuition has skyrocketed, which has increased the PACT program’s obligations. Also, the recent stock market slump has slashed the value of its trust fund.
Persall said one of his organization’s goals is to force a commitment from higher education and two-year colleges to freeze their tuition for PACT participants.
* Patrick McCreless can be reached by e-mail at patrickm@cullmantimes.com or by telephone at 734-2131 ext. 270.
Top News
Group to discuss PACT program
- Top News
-
-
Chase ends with man’s arrest
A low-speed chase that transitioned into a foot chase landed a Cullman man behind bars late Tuesday night.
-
County water department gets passing grade
The Cullman County water department got a passing grade from the state’s top environmental watchdog agency, following an annual sanitary inspection assessing the department’s operations, facilities and compliance with regulatory procedure.
-
Arrests, incident reports for Monday, May 14
Here is a look at the incidents that were reported to the Cullman Police Department for Monday, May 14:
-
New education grades welcomed
Another effort to bring education reform to Alabama has made it through the Legislature, this time in the form of letter grades for schools.
-
City refers Cullman Christian School’s deannexation request to attorneys
Cullman resident Jessie Land has two children enrolled in Cullman Christian School, and after seeing the private campus move nearly a half dozen times in the wake of last year’s April tornadoes, she just wants to know one thing: Where is it going next?
-
The Times' Morning Update for Wednesday, May 16
Good morning, readers, this is what's happening in your county today:
-
HAE awareness walk Wednesday
Hillary Schafer was aware that Hereditary Angioedema — a very rare and deadly disease that causes episodes of swelling in various body parts — ran in her family.
-
No injuries in house fire
A Cullman county couple was not injured when their house caught fire early Sunday morning.
-
City park and rec nominated for award
The Cullman Park and Recreation department has repeated an honor that no other Alabama park can claim — a third consecutive nomination for one of the country’s top awards for municipal parks.
-
‘An honor and a privilege’
Brenda Connell received an early retirement surprise Monday.
- More Top News Headlines
-


