Oscar: Talia, did you read the board's proposal? Every senior would finish a semester of internship to graduate.

Talia: I read it twice. I am for the internship and against the way it is written.

Oscar: What is wrong with it? Most high school internships are unpaid. That is normal.

Talia: Normal is not the same as fair. Almost a third of the seniors here work after school, and most of them because the money is needed at home. If you tell that student to give up fifteen hours a week of paid work for an unpaid placement, you have not added a graduation requirement. You have added a bill.

Oscar: The district would tell you it cannot afford a stipend for every senior.

Talia: That is a real limit, and I will not pretend the money is sitting in a drawer. But some employers here already pay their interns. Start the requirement with those placements and widen it as more partners come in.

Oscar: So a smaller program, but everyone in it gets paid.

Talia: Smaller and honest, not large and unequal. A requirement only some students can afford to meet is not a requirement for everyone.