30 Years Later, Wall Street Manager Reflects On College Promise To Philly Students
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A Wall Street money manager is looking back at an extraordinary promise he made to a class of Philadelphia sixth-graders, 30 years ago.
It was June of 1987 when George Weiss pledged to pay the college tuition of 112 sixth graders at West Philadelphia's Belmont Elementary School, IF they graduated high school.
30 years later...
"They're still my kids. They're now 42-43 years of age. And I love them unconditionally," said Weiss.
A little more than half of the class known as the "Belmont 112" graduated high school. 20 went on to get 4-year degrees, but just as many turned out to be felons.
One grad is a NASA flight controller.
Weiss, now 74, believes you can overcome poverty with education, but admits his expectations were probably unrealistic.
"I expected them all to get straight A's. I expected them all to go to Penn. And I realized that wasn't reality," he said.
Weiss says the students of the "Belmont 112" eventually realized his motives were genuine.
"They said, 'when we first met Mr. Weiss, we thought he was a crazy white man. Then we realized he was a crazy white man that loved us,'" Weiss said.
Today, his nonprofit, called "Say Yes to Education," provides education services to 130,000 low-income students.