Your school district has an excellent reputation for providing high-quality education.

In the past several years, however, a small group of individuals who used to pass through the region as migrant workers have now settled permanently in your area.

They bring with them some of the disadvantages of poverty—poor study skills, poor language and writing skills, and a lack of employability skills other than what has been referred to as “stoop labor.” In fact, many of the parents do not see a need for their children to continue their education beyond age 16. Community resentment is growing about “these people” coming to live here from now on. The state legislature is even talking about enacting stricter immigration laws.

Your school board sees the importance of providing the programs these students need to be successful in today’s world and has requested additional funding for programs to meet these students’ needs. The local taxpayers association is campaigning against this increased funding for your local school district. They have placed ads in the local newspaper asking that local residents contact their elected officials and reduce the proposed education budget—especially in the categories of dropout prevention and after-school homework help programs. Their slogan is “Why Throw Good Money Away Needlessly?” They see no need to help struggling students who, as they put it, don’t want to be and don’t need to be in school anyway. The taxpayer group believes these individuals will go on to work in low-wage jobs at the local factory and really don’t need all that much education.

Because you have grown up in the area, attended the local schools, graduated from college, and returned home to teach, the superintendent has asked you to speak at the next budget meeting about the need for communities to invest in education and why these new programs are in the community’s long-term best interests.

Your talk at the public input section of the meeting is limited to 5 minutes. Prepare your speech and deliver it convincingly to a partner before speaking in public. Prepare a written text of your speech and speakers’ notes to aid you in your presentation.