TEEN MOMS ASK LAWMAKERS TO SPARE TAPP FROM STATE BUDGET CUTS

Teen moms ask lawmakers to spare TAPP from state budget cuts

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WDRB) – Faced with losing about $477,000 in state funding in the upcoming biennial budget, students in the Georgia Chaffee Teenage Parent Program urged lawmakers on a House budget review subcommittee to reconsider Wednesday.

TAPP, part of Jefferson County Public Schools, serves 105 teenage mothers and pregnant students as they continue their high school education.

Students and a graduate of TAPP told lawmakers on the House Budget Review Subcommittee on Primary and Secondary Education and Workforce Development that the program – particularly its Project SMART initiative that emphasizes career paths in science, math and technology – offers resources that will help them in life after high school, such as job interview coaching and help applying for postsecondary financial aid.

State funding for TAPP was eliminated in Gov. Matt Bevin’s proposed two-year budget, which is in the hands of the House of Representatives as they craft their version of the spending plan.

Perla Huitron, a junior at the South Park TAPP, told lawmakers she was never interested in her grades in high school or going to college. At one point, she said her grade-point average fell below 1.0.

But that changed when she became pregnant with her daughter and moved to Kentucky from California.

“Project SMART helped me to see the person that I wanted to become in the medical field or law school,” Huitron said. “… This program made me really think about going into college and my career, and if it wasn’t for the field trips we take to different colleges, I wouldn’t know what college I would want to go to.”

Jacklyn Riggs, who graduated from South Park TAPP in 2015, also credited Project SMART for getting her ready for life as a college student.

It even helped her land a job in insurance immediately after graduating high school, she said.

“Project SMART is my success story,” Riggs said. “I am happy to say two degrees later I have a career that I love and I’m still in school to grow more within the company, all while having a happy, healthy 5-year-old son that looks up to me.”