I am a high school drop-out.
Despite graduating from college with honors, earning two graduate degrees and professional success, my status as a high school drop-out is difficult to admit, even to myself. It fills me with embarrassment and shame due to common misconceptions, namely that we drop-outs are dumb, lazy, apathetic, and untalented.
We’re not.
As our nation marks National Dropout Prevention Month in October, we should empower drop-outs with the second chance at diplomas they deserve. They don’t require pity. They do require school choice options. Online charter schools serve as a critical last resort for many students who are simply out of options. These schools welcome society’s most vulnerable youth and offer them another shot at education, gainful employment and financial success.
Online charter schools provide such alternatives but seem to be under siege in the court of public opinion when it comes to graduation rates. Such criticism is overly-simplistic.

Read the rest of the letter here.