School Committee elections lack student voices because they lack student votes – and shouldn’t
Students should be allowed to vote in the School Committee election, because they have the most relevant perspective of how to improve the school system: As students of the school we know what is actually going on, and we know what really needs to be fixed.
The results of a School Committee election can affect students’ experiences in school directly, because the people who sit on the committee have authority and power to make decisions for all students. They decide the length of the school day, the quality of school lunches, Covid-19 protocols and other district policies that have a direct impact on students’ everyday lives.
Students should be able to trust the people who make these key decisions. They should feel listened to and supported by members of the committee. But if this were a real democracy, students would have a voice too.
Currently, you can vote for School Committee candidates only if you are 18 or older, which includes even adult voters who are not in the school system and unlikely to be able to relate to the pressing needs of students. As a result, these adults don’t represent students in their votes. If students could vote, they would be able to decide who has decision-making power and influence over the policies that directly affect them.
Lowering the voting age for the School Committee to 12, when kids are mature enough to express their views on the world, would help children practice voting and establish it as a habit. It could aid low voting turnout rates as well. If you are going to say everyone has a voice, that means students have a voice. Democracy would be in ruins if we didn’t have voting, so why limit it?
Aya Riman and Anthony Dumerant, Cambridge Rindge and Latin School
12? I literally laughed out loud.
Though it is nice they were able to get their home work published online.
This idea has merit. The school committee is an absolute train wreck. I see no reason why someone subject to their uneducated whims being wholly owned by the teachers union shouldn’t be able to and perhaps even better equipped to help appoint people who ought to be the voice of students and parents. It’s not like adults have done a good or even competent job appointing school committee members.
The school committee has for a long time been used as a spring board to gain name recognition and visibility for persons wanting to then later run for city council. This has the problem that it does not always produce the best candidates for the committee or even necessarily people that have a direct interest in the results.
You don’t have to have children in the school system, or have had attended the schools, or have worked in education to sit on the committee. Residency and signatures to get on the ballot and to win the election is all that is required. Perhaps adding additional criteria for the office would produce a better result.
Perhaps a non-voting Student Ombudsman position chosen by the students to represent their concerns and grievances into the agenda (and perhaps to offer opinions on votes that might directly concern the student body) would be a useful thing to add to the process.