How is it fair for someone to be able to get their GED?

No one is stopping you from doing the same. It isn't like either credential signifies college or workforce readiness anyway, unless you have over a 4.0 and multiple passed AP tests in which case you are probably ready for college but not the workforce. 

To be workforce ready you need to know a skilled trade or have a college degree in a marketable major with related paid internships. A high school diploma or ged won't cut it.

I understand your issue, however, some students may have medical problems and not able to attend classes - so having a GED is better than nothing at all.

Depending on the situation.

Um, well, if you do drop out of school without a good reason/unavoidable reason, then employers/colleges will probably put you at the bottom of the list of candidates. You couldn't be bothered then, why would they think you will be bothered to work hard now? The same goes for people who were expelled. 

They don’t just get the GED handed to them. They must take and pass a series of exams. Many end up paying to take GED courses in order to pass.   It can take many hours of studying. Some people never do pass all the exams and don’t earn their GED.  It can be hard set of exams for many. Kids drop out at 16, only to find later in life they need a GED to get by. Many kids have no option. Family life, which they have no control over,  can cause a kids to drop out. As a society, it is better to have more people educated. To be able to get a job or get training for a good job. 

There still is a stigma. A high school diploma is still viewed as much better to have.  

Something else you're not considering when you say this, Nick, is that many kids who drop out do so as an alternative to suicide or VIOLENCE, including school shootings. These are kids without a future, for the most part. They've generally been bullied or mistreated to the point where they are so totally turned off to learning, and hate school and the people around them so much, that dropping out is really their only alternative. It's better that than attempting suicide, or worse, trying to exact revenge on their schools and peers. Offering kids who've gone this route a second chance (after they've been away from traditional school for a while) is a good thing, not a bad one. It sure beats having them end up in prison or dead before they're 25 years old.

They don’t just get the GED handed to them. They must take and pass a series of exams. Many end up paying to take GED courses in order to pass.   It can take many hours of studying. Some people never do pass all the exams and don’t earn their GED.  It can be hard set of exams for many. Kids drop out at 16, only to find later in life they need a GED to get by. Many kids have no option. Family life, which they have no control over,  can cause a kids to drop out. As a society, it is better to have more people educated. To be able to get a job or get training for a good job. 

There still is a stigma. A high school diploma is still viewed as much better to have.  

What kids worked super hard to get a high school diploma? I don't know any.  It is almost harder work to make it so you don't get one. They practically give them away for just showing up.  Actually more work to get a GED than to get a diploma the normal way.

And sure, a second chance is definitely a good thing to offer.  People, especially young people, make mistakes.  There are also people who leave high school for valid reasons.

The GED is just proof that you know whatever basic knowledge a person has to possess in order to graduate high school.  Isn't the very purpose of school to provide knowledge?  If you have that knowledge, then you succeeded in achieving the goal of school. Nothing wrong with paper saying you have that knowledge.

Why would you be so bothered by it?

There are some unforeseeable and unavoidable circumstances that may make a traditional high school diploma inaccessible. If you’re an American, then things like an advanced regents diploma, or a diploma with honors, will probably have more value in certain fields. Especially in college applications. 

Some jobs that require only high school diplomas may not prioritize those with traditional diplomas because the job is mostly learned through experience or other qualifications, or doesn’t benefit from the knowledge learned with it. A lot of what you learn in high school is useless, but getting a GED or diploma shows that you have at least basic math and reading skills, or the drive to complete something, which is helpful in any part of life. That’s my piece.

How is giving someone a second chance unfair?

You probably have no idea the dysfunctional homes some of those dropouts are surviving. If there's no food unless you bring home money, are you going to keep going to school while you watch your little brother go hungry? Or if your parents are addicts or alcoholics, maybe the best thing you can do is drop out so somebody is taking care of your two sisters while Mom and Dad are out scoring or passed out on the couch. Or maybe you drop out so you can work and save enough money to run away before your father beats you to death instead of just beats you yet again.

Show some empathy and compassion, Nick.

The entire community benefits when its citizens are educated. People who don't have a high school diploma are pretty much doomed to be either poor or become criminals, because the jobs they can get pay poorly and have little opportunity for advancement.