I am a social worker who has worked with the disadvantaged for 16 years, trying to help them learn how to be part of a culture that attempts to include them and help them find acceptance and purpose.
I have witnessed the hope that the General Educational Development test offers people who, for whatever reason, couldn’t complete the requirements for a high school diploma.
It is a chance for people to achieve a measure of confidence in themselves and their abilities so they can contribute meaningfully and financially to the culture that invested in them through GED certification.
If we require a fee and computer literacy for this training, as proposed by the American Council on Education, we create barriers to achieving what could be the difference between dependency or productivity for this untapped source of working class people.
These people are the fabric of the American culture. We desperately need them and should do all we can to help them rather than increase the barriers to their success.
Leave the GED test as it is. It is, socially, a very useful tool. It is hope.
Bill Lord
China Village
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