[codeoftherobot]

What's sad is that VEX was a perfect program for predominantly lower to middle income populations and their associated school districts. I hate to say it but FIRST Robotics Competition is really a competition for the wealthy. Granted, there are quite a few teams out there that have pushed themselves from difficult situations but the cheapness of VEX made for the possibility of any school joining, not just those that could fork over $6000 in one check.

If what everyone is saying is correct and VEX is being discontinued, the work I had been doing with a few other university professors at my university will just have been wasted. We had between 12-14 teams in our local area signing up (with plenty more schools in the city) and authorization from the university to host an unofficial VEX regional. The city where we are located is not predominantly wealthy nor would it have the financial resources to sustain 12-14 FRC teams and that was the reason why VEX made sense. The resources of the school (large endowment) made it possible for the university to donate a VEX kit to every single elementary and high school in the area, allowing for many more students to participate compared to participation of students in entire states in FRC.

FIRST should reconsider any cancellation of VEX and their partnership with Radioshack. Like when FRC first started, VEX should be given the same chance to grow. All elementary, middle and high schoolers should be allowed the chance to participate in this program.