Grace Rauh reports on how Albany budget cuts could threaten the General Educational Development test that's the equivalent of a high school diploma.

Each year, nearly 3,000 students come to a city-run adult school in Brooklyn's Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood to take classes in English and nursing, and to work toward getting their GED.

"This is the best place for people to go," says City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. "Not some place that is going to charge you, where we have no sense of the quality of the curriculum or the teachers."

But most people agree that the system is in shambles. New York State has the dubious distinction of having the worst GED pass rate in the country. And the city's rate is even lower than the state's – less than 50 percent.

One expert says that while there are pockets of promising programs, they're not enough.

"We don't have systems of testing or systems of GED preparation that support greatness," says Lazar Treschan of the Community Service Society.

The problems run deep. And Quinn has set her sights on fixing them, announcing a plan to send more New Yorkers to prep classes. But already she has hit a major hurdle: the possibility that the state will slash funding for GED testing by 40 percent.

"This cut will put programs like the this one in real jeopardy," says Quinn.

A spokeswoman for the state Department of Education described the cuts as necessary, but difficult.

Inside the school, students in the GED program say they are pleased with their classes and offer words of encouragement to the more than 1.6 million New Yorkers who don't have a high school diploma.

"Some people may think it's difficult," says GED student June John. "'Oh, going back to school at my age?' There is no age to think you can't do this – because you can. This is it."

"I would advise persons out there to get their GED because without that, you won't be able to make a step forward," adds student Roxanne McDonald.

These determined students may be well on their way toward passing the test. It's those New Yorkers outside, who haven't yet found their way to class, that are the real challenge.