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April 25, 2006
Teens serving on local boards becoming more commonIntriguing tale here about a trend in local governance: The teens are taking over. Well, not quite yet. But governing boards of all types, large and small, obscure and not, are inviting teens to take a seat. The article in the San Francisco Chronicle does not focus on school boards, but they are obviously part of this too, much more in recent years.
Cities leading the way here are Hampton, Va., Sarasota, Fla., as well as a number of California cities. There is also a concerted push by philanthropic groups such as the Pew Charitable Trusts and other foundations to treat youth as a distinct constituency and to get them involved in decision making, especially in towns where the population of children and teenagers is burgeoning, reports Chronicle.
School Board News has covered the issue of students on school boards here.
Education Commission of the States produced a useful policy brief in 2004 titled Involving Students in Governance (pdf). And here are two sample policies for students serving on school boards (all are pdf): Culver City, CA and Davenport, Iowa.
Posted April 25, 2006 3:38 PM | School Boards
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Posted by: Charles Fox on April 27, 2006 12:23 AM
It is a shame that the laws and policies do not make an extra effort to encourage participation by students with special needs. I appreciated your blog post and used it as a basis for my blog post at -- http://specialedlaw.blogs.com/home/2006/04/school_governan.html
Charlie Fox
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