PRESS RELEASE- Carl Hayden High School will March to Support Education and the Economy in AZ

Carl Hayden High School will March to Support Education and the Economy in AZ

Concerned by the laws being considered in the current session of Arizona's Legislature, especially the ones regarding education, a group of students from Carl Hayden High School will organize a peaceful protest and march to the State Capitol on Wednesday, March the 9th , 2011.

The students will be marching after school gathering at 3:30 on the Carl Hayden football field and arriving to the State Capitol soon after. Their goal is to send the message to the community that students are concerned for the laws being presented at the legislature and they appreciate their education hence they are using their after school time to raise their concerns.

The protest will be centered on the legislation called Omnibus bill, SB1611 which among other things would mandate school administrators for education institutions K to 12 to register the immigration status of the students, including charter schools, private schools and home school settings and to forbid undocumented students from attending Community Colleges, Universities.

"We are really concerned for these bills that would damage education in our state and are a continuation of the SB1070 who brought bad publicity to the state" said Maria Castro, student leader from Carl Hayden High School. "We want to send the legislators the message that we value education and we view education as the only way our country will continue being the leader of the world. As students, we feel that segregating us students by legal status, and forbid our presence in Institutions of higher education, is against the economic future of the state and the nation".

Economist have calculated that only in tourism and related business, Arizona has lost around 145 millions of dollars due to the bad publicity SB1070 brought to the State, These new laws and many proposed by current legislators, will bring back controversy and a bad image for the residents of the state.

"As students that contribute to our state by countless hours of community service while we attend classes to be able to contribute even more, we urge the state legislators to stop playing political games and concentrate their time in fixing the state budget crises, improve the economy, protect education and health services for all" said Maria.

" We are in danger or characterize the State again as one where ignorance is prevalent and where people wants to deny young persons the opportunity to succeed by their own talents. We students find this stance contrary with the principles of the country".