HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — When they saw their intelligent classmates on the verge of not graduating due to language barriers, they wrote a bill that’s now getting bipartisan support in the state legislature.
“We just want to give all our peers the same advantage we have,” Madison Harvey said.
Harvey is a student in Armwood High School’s “Ought to be a Law” program, which takes classroom learning from theory to practice.
“I’ve been involved with the Ought to be a Law program for about 10 years now,” said Tony Pirotta, a teacher at Armwood. “Each year, I put out an invitation to any students that would like to participate in the Ought to be a Law program. I give them an idea of what it is that we do and we're looking for ideas of things they believe should be changed within our state government, whether it's an injustice or a particular law or circumstance they and their family have faced.”
For Harvey and classmate Maria Medina, the issue became personal. They noticed some of their smart peers struggled with testing because of language barriers, which could stand in the way of graduation. So, as part of the ‘Ought to be a Law’ program, they created a bill that would lessen state testing requirements for students working to learn English.
"Leaving with a certificate of completion stops your future. You're up against minimum wage jobs and things in contrast to getting your actual high school diploma, which can make you go to college and it can get you a higher-paying job. It's just that one test that's stopping so many kids,” said Medina, whose first language was Spanish.
Their project is already getting bipartisan support. Democratic State Rep Susan Valdes and Republican Senator Tom Lee filed bills in September, proving no voice is ever too young to be heard.
"You're never too small to impact your community. You can get involved and you can be the difference you want to see in the world,” said Medina.
If passed, the bill would impact about 50,000 students and could increase the graduation rate up to three percent. The students are hoping to go to Tallahassee in the next few weeks to support their bill.
Emerald Morrow is a reporter with 10News WTSP. Like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter. You can also email her at emorrow@wtsp.com.
What other people are reading right now:
- Florida teen drowns after rescuing mom, child from strong current
- Hazmat team responds to suspicious bag at Tampa International Airport
- Oregon doctor says his sperm was improperly used to father at least 17 children
- Two restaurants in Jacksonville facing lawsuits because of Cyclospora outbreak
- Nurse accused of inappropriate conduct with dementia patient
FREE 10NEWS APP:
