The school sponsors eight boys sports and six girls sports, excluding cheerleading. Yet, the disparity widened when the grant money was spent on football. It helps athletics, gets kids to school and encourages them to stay in school. Hooks is hardly the only lawmaker playing the game. Even the governor chips in.
Local groups apply for grants, and the governor decides which requests to fund.
State documents from 1996 show that then-Gov. If the state is going to give so much money . Schools and sports teams get rewarded for no specific reasons, other than because of connections to a powerful lawmakers or legislators willing to trade votes on the budget for some pork, state officials said. Urban school districts tend to be left out, either because their representatives are not positioned to deal or they're focused on other community needs. Former state School Superintendent Werner Rogers distanced himself from the proces when his department was being used, contrary to state law, to dispense funds for athletics.