Grad Solutions & Smart Schools: Lobbying Arizona's Legislature for Students' Right to Learn

3 MINUTE READ • LOBBYING OUR LAWMAKERS

Last week, Grad Solutions and Smart Schools staff converged on the Capitol lawn to advocate for supportive learning environments for all students. As an organization, we lobby for students' rights to learn and earn their high school diploma on their terms. We know that learning isn’t always confined to the classroom and that students deserve options that work for them and their lifestyle.

Here's what we know: a high school diploma isn't just a piece of paper, it's a student's ticket to better career opportunities and a higher standard of living. For better or worse, a high school graduate is more employable, earns more per year, and saves their communities billions of dollars over their lifetime.

As a country, we have a long history of serving a large majority of our student population through mainstream public education. It's a model that has historically benefited students with resources and stability. With schools being under-resourced and understaffed, students at the margins are struggling to find a well-supported path to success. Those whose experience deviates from the majority are left to figure it out by themselves, or to get left behind.

None of the students who come to Grad Solutions (or to Smart Schools as adults) are truly here by choice - their first choice would have been to graduate on time with their peers. But life circumstances, for whatever reason, made that impossible.

We don't, as an organization, believe that students deserve to be consigned to a life of poverty simply because they have experienced illness, painful family loss, unexpected pregnancy, insecure living or food arrangements, inconsistent access to school, or any number of life's challenges. We believe these students deserve to be met with compassion and dignity and to have access to education on their terms, and with the support, they need to be successful.

This is why we bring the concerns of our students and their right to access education through programs like Grad Solutions to the Capitol Lawn each year. Our legislators deserve to know the stories and the faces of the students they are impacting with their choices. If you are interested in learning more, visit www.iwantmydiploma.com/capitol.