TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A GED can unlock a better life for someone who didn’t stay in high school to get a diploma. But GED programs are in danger from the proposed state budget. Governor Hobbs just vetoed the budget passed by the Republican majority in the Arizona Legislature. Now the fate of GED programs could be part of budget negotiations.
For people who did not get a high school diploma a GED from Pima Community College can be the launchpad to a better life and a better career but money for those programs has been cut from the proposed state budget.
“I look to go get my doctorate in nursing, go into anesthesia. So it's a long road that I have ahead of me, but Adult Ed has given me the confidence to do so.”
Shayanne Ross did not get a high school diploma but she did get a GED through adult education at Pima Community College.
An illness left her blind for three years. She says she was blind during some of the time she studied for the GED. Treatment restored her sight and her adult education at PCC became her foundation for a strong career ahead.
“And it's not just students, it gives the community the option to go into a field and make more money for their family, to make more money for, you know, their kids.”
But at the State Capitol, state lawmakers have proposed a budget that cuts lots of programs, including the six million dollars community colleges use to pay for adult ed.
Laurie Kierstead-Joseph is assistant vice chancellor over PCC’s adult programs. She says the law says PCC must offer basic adult education for free. But it’s not a gift, it’s an investment that returns a powerful payback.
“We're helping create workers for the local employers. But importantly, there's, there's a there's a research that shows that for every dollar spent on adult education, the ROI is another $57 that comes back into the community and the state.”
She says as many as 100,000 people in Pima County could benefit from adult education and each year about 4500 sign up for classes. But without the state money PCC would probably have to turn away about 1100 each year.
That would be 1100 people who did not get the same sort of boost that helped Shayanne Ross succeed.
She says, “I was able to get my GED and then go into getting my certified nursing assistant certificate. So none of that would have been possible at that point.”
