Teens 16 and 17 get to vote in Alameda County school board races

OAKLAND —  Candidates looking for to guide the Oakland Unified Faculty District confronted a barrage of powerful questions one current night — an interrogation led by an enthusiastic group of recent voters all of the sudden endowed with political energy: 16- and 17-year-old highschool college students.

In a primary for California, teenagers in two Alameda County faculty districts, Berkeley and Oakland, had been granted suffrage at school board races for the primary time this November.

About 1,000 Oakland college students had registered as of Oct. 22. And to courtroom their latest and youngest constituents, a number of Oakland candidates assembled earlier than a packed auditorium in East Oakland for a grilling.

“What concepts do you deliver to the desk to enhance faculty security for the faculties in your district?” Ojiugo Egeonu, 16, a junior at Oakland Technical Excessive Faculty, requested the candidates. There had already been “a number of faculty shootings within the final 12 months” on highschool campuses, she added. Fremont Excessive Faculty, the location of the Oct. 22 candidate discussion board, was positioned on lockdown in 2023 after two individuals had been shot close to campus.

The college board candidates tried to reassure the scholars, saying they had been dedicated to bettering security, whereas additionally defending college students’ rights. The district’s latest voters listened fastidiously.

In a district dealing with an enormous funds disaster and sometimes abysmal check scores, college students additionally had questions on faculty funding, campus security, psychological well being, and school and profession preparation assist.

Many college students mentioned it was about time faculty board candidates performed extra heed to them.

“We’re not on the children’ desk anymore,” Maximus Simmons, a junior at Oakland Excessive, mentioned. “That is the primary time younger individuals have had an actual voice at school board elections in a significant metropolis. That is solely the start.”

Throughout the nation, just a few small cities have made it potential for younger individuals to solid votes in native elections.

The primary place in California to authorize youth suffrage was Berkeley, the place in 2016 greater than 70% of voters authorised a measure permitting college students to have a voice at school board races.

Voters in Oakland adopted swimsuit in 2020 with Measure QQ. However as a result of it took a number of years to work out the mechanics, officers mentioned, youth voting will occur for the primary time in each cities this month.

“This has by no means been performed earlier than in California, and we needed to be sure that it was performed correctly,” Alameda County Registrar of Voters Tim Dupuis mentioned in an announcement.

The push is increasing to extra cities. Within the Bay Space, voters in Albany will vote Tuesday on a measure to grant suffrage to 16- and 17-year-olds. In Southern California, Culver Metropolis voters narrowly defeated an identical measure in 2022, whereas San Francisco voters additionally shot down such measures in 2016 and 2020.

Sixteen- and 17- year-olds should register to vote and are despatched a poll with solely the college board candidates of their district, stopping them from voting in different races.

On the candidates’ discussion board at Fremont Excessive, faculty board candidates took discover of their latest constituency. Seven of the eight candidates operating for 4 open seats in Oakland attended.

“I’m right here to take heed to all of you, as a result of that’s what you deserve,” Ben Salop, 20, a 2022 graduate of Oakland Technical Excessive Faculty, advised the scholars. “Let’s make Oakland a very student-led district.”

“It’s a giant deal that 16- and 17-year-olds can vote in Oakland and Berkeley faculty board elections, as they now affect who represents their pursuits,” mentioned Laura Wray-Lake, a professor of social welfare at UCLA, who has carried out analysis on youth civic engagement. She emphasised that these college students see faculty inequities firsthand and can possible vote for candidates prioritizing fairness and scholar assist, and who will “take heed to their views.”

Oakland and Berkeley may set an instance for different cities, she mentioned, by exhibiting younger individuals can vote responsibly. As the most important, most various metropolis with a decrease voting age, she says that Oakland could encourage comparable actions in different cities like Newark, N.J., and a youth-led motion in Minnesota aiming to decrease the voting age for college board elections.

The Oakland district, which enrolls about 34,000 college students, a lot of whom stay in poverty, has been stricken by troubles lately. It faces a $95-million funds hole, shrinking enrollment, and has closed campuses amid allegations that it’s failing college students. It has additionally struggled with low check scores, significantly amongst Black and Latino college students.

“We began this motion as a result of we noticed our college board administrators making choices with out contemplating scholar views,” mentioned Natalie Gallegos Chavez, a sophomore at UC Berkeley who was a scholar at Oakland Excessive Faculty when she first grew to become concerned within the Oakland Youth Vote Coalition at its inception in 2019.

Gallegos mentioned that the motion to implement Measure QQ was impressed by the college program closures, which she seen as towards the pursuits of scholars. In 2019, the Oakland Faculty Board minimize $20.2 million from its funds, together with 100 jobs and several other colleges.

Many college students mentioned the possibility to vote on faculty board races has made them extra engaged in politics on the whole.

“I grew to become extra as soon as I knew we truly might need a possibility to have our voices be heard,” mentioned Anne Diby, 16, a junior at Skyline Excessive Faculty in Oakland. “It’s opened my eyes to how authorities choices are being seen by youth.”

Diby’s classmate Autumn Weems, 16, added that the flexibility to vote has motivated her to change into extra knowledgeable concerning the points affecting her faculty. “We mainly are actually put ready to manage our training, which is one thing we should always have been capable of do within the first place,” she mentioned.

Tommy Lemasney, 17, a senior at Skyline, mentioned voting has made him extra conscious of the necessity for youth voices to be heard in politics.

“I need college students to have extra of a say, not simply adults who assume they know every little thing,” Lemasney mentioned. “Youth voices must be heard, particularly in terms of who represents us.”

On the occasion at Fremont Excessive, many candidates rushed to agree with the scholars on the worth of youth voting.

Candidate Dwayne Aikens Jr. advised the scholars he had grown up in poverty and as a sufferer of gun violence in Oakland. He was operating to enhance colleges, he mentioned, and likewise to “put hope and aspiration on the poll.”

VanCedric Williams, who’s operating for reelection towards Aikens, inspired college students to stay vocal and proceed to push for scholar involvement in budgeting choices.

“We’re gonna want to listen to your voice,” he mentioned. In response, the scholars showered him with loud snaps of approval and applause.

Tanaka is a particular correspondent.