Brandi's Message about the Drug War on Education

“Dear Senators Martinez and Nelson,

My name is Brandi Stanley, and I'm currently a student at the Osceola County School for the Arts. I am a vocal major that takes pride in my hard work and dedication to my education. I am looking forward to attending college next year, but, I'm not so sure if I'm going to be able to afford it financially. There is a penalty that strips financial aid from college students with drug convictions, and unless it is repealed through the Higher Education Act reauthorization. I will admit I did make a mistake, and I was arrested with a less than five grams of pot, which will stay on my record for the rest of my life. One mistake, only one, can have the ability to take the rest of my future away. I am not a bad person, and I am an A student, just like 200,000 other aspiring students who were blocked access to aid, most often for relatively minor offenses such as possession of a small amount of marijuana, like myself, since the aid elimination penalty was added as an amendment to HEA in 1998.

While this penalty is supposed to keep young people away from drugs, it actually does the opposite by kicking at-risk students out of school.

But blocking access to education doesn't just hurt students such as myself, but it has harmful implications for society as a whole. College graduates are much more likely to become successful taxpaying citizens, while those who are kicked out of school are more likely to abuse drugs, become costly drains on the criminal justice system, and rely on expensive government assistance programs.

There are already minimum GPA requirements to recieve financial aid, so in essence, the penalty is only affecting hardworking students who are doing well in their classes.

As for students who are causing problems and disrupting the learning process for others, college administrators already have the authority to expel them, and judges have long had the ability to revoke student aid from people with drug convictions on a case-by-case basis. The one-size-fits-all penalty strips discretion from decision-makers who know students best.

Numerous addiction recovery, criminal justice, religious, and other leaders have insisted that education is one of the best means to reduce crime and drug abuse, and Congress's own Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance recommended removing the drug conviction question from the aid application, calling it "irrelevant" to eligibility. Even the Bush administration doesn't like the penalty; the Undersecretary of Education recently testified to a House subcommittee that the drug question is "not anything that we need at the department."

Fortunately, this year's HEA reauthorization process presents a great opportunity to get rid of the harmful and unfair penalty once and for all. Please help tens of thousands of hardworking and determined individuals like myself stay in school andon the path to success by making sure that the HEA bill includes language repealing the aid elimination penalty.

Thank you so much for you attention on this detrimental issue. You are the only ones that can help me save my education that I hold so dear. I look forward to hearing your thoughts as soon as you have a chance to share them.”

-- Brandi Stanley

Tell Congress to help people like Brandi:

http://capwiz.com/mobilize/issues/alert/?alertID=9628286