They Call Me a Hero by Daniel Hernandez

Author:Daniel Hernandez
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

LOBBYING

WORKING FOR ASA WAS MY MAIN INTEREST FRESHMAN YEAR. AT our meetings I began to learn more about the problems with our education system in Arizona. We got word that there was going to be a 40 percent reduction in state aid for the university, so we organized a protest. I was asked to go to the state capitol in Phoenix. I was only eighteen, I’m Latino, and I wondered, How am I going to get anything done at the state capitol? I felt that no one would listen to me, but I went. This was the first time I had lobbied for anything. Lobbying means conducting a campaign to influence legislators to vote a certain way for special interests.

We, the leaders of ASA, got roughly ten thousand students to come from all over the state and protest. Mobilizing ten thousand people is a big deal no matter what group it is. Each of the universities belonging to ASA sent students. At U of A, Erin, David, Emily, Elma, and I signed in people as they boarded the buses. Our slogan was, “Education Should Not Be the Next CasUAlty.” The letters U and A were capitalized to represent our school. We were especially active politically because of the many cuts we’d received. I had often discussed this issue with Gabby. She had been in the state legislature and knew how poorly public education was funded in Arizona as well as nationally.

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