OAKLAND — Candidates for leadership of the Oakland Unified School District faced a barrage of tough questions on a recent evening. The interrogation was led by a group of enthusiastic new voters suddenly given political power: 16- and 17-year-old high school students.
For the first time in California, teens in two Alameda County school districts, Berkeley and Oakland, were given the right to vote in school board elections for the first time this November.
As of Oct. 22, about 1,000 Oakland students had registered. And to court the youngest voters, several Oakland candidates gathered in front of a packed auditorium in East Oakland for a rally.
“What ideas would you suggest to improve the safety of schools in your district?” Ojugo Egonu, 16, a senior at Oakland Technical High School, asked the candidates. She added that there had already been “several school shootings in the last year” on high school campuses. Fremont High School, the site of the Oct. 22 candidates forum, was placed on lockdown after two people were shot near campus.
School board candidates sought to reassure students, saying they would work to improve safety while protecting students’ rights. New voters in the district listened carefully.
In a district facing a major financial crisis and often dire test scores, students also had questions about school funding, campus safety, mental health, and college and career readiness support.
Many students said it was time for school board candidates to pay more attention to them.
“We’re not at the kids’ table anymore,” said Maximus Simmons, a senior at Oakland High School. “This is the first time young people have had a real voice in a big city school board election. This is just the beginning.”
In several small cities across the country, young people can now vote in local elections.
Berkeley was the first city in California to allow youth suffrage, with more than 70% of voters in 2016 approving a measure giving students a voice in school board elections.
Oakland voters followed suit in 2020 with Measure QQ. But it took several years to figure out how it worked, so youth voting will be held in both cities for the first time this month, officials said.
“This has never been done in California before, and we needed to make sure it was done properly,” Tim Dupuis, Alameda County Registrar of Voters, said in a statement.
This initiative is expanding to more cities. In the Bay Area, voters in Albany are scheduled to vote on a measure Tuesday that would give 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote. In Southern California, voters in Culver City narrowly rejected a similar measure in 2022, while voters in San Francisco also rejected similar measures in 2016 and 2020.
16- and 17-year-olds must register to vote and are sent a ballot that only lists school board candidates in their district and cannot vote in other races.
School board candidates highlighted their latest races at a candidate forum held at Fremont High School. Seven of the eight candidates running for Auckland’s four open seats attended.
“I’m here to listen to you, because that’s what you deserve,” Ben Salop, 20, a 2022 graduate of Oakland Technical High School, told the students. “Let’s make Oakland a truly student-led district.”
“It’s a big deal that 16- and 17-year-olds can vote in school board elections in Oakland and Berkeley because they now influence who represents their interests,” said UCLA Social Worker. Professor Laura Raylake said. We conducted a survey on youth civic participation. She emphasized that these students see inequities in their schools and are more likely to vote for candidates who prioritize equity and student support and “listen to their voices.”
She said Oakland and Berkeley can set an example for other cities by showing young people can vote responsibly. Oakland, the largest and most diverse city with a low voting age, has seen similar movements in other cities, including Newark, New Jersey, and a youth-led movement in Minnesota to lower the voting age for school board elections. She says it can be irritating.
The Oakland school district has about 34,000 students, many of whom live in poverty, and has been plagued by problems in recent years. The university is facing a $95 million budget shortfall, and the campus has been closed amid declining enrollment and suspicions that students are failing. It also suffers from low test scores, especially among black and Latino students.
“We started this movement because we saw school board members making decisions without considering the student perspective,” said the sophomore at the University of California, Berkeley. said Natalie Gallegos Chavez, who was a student at Oakland High School when she first joined the Oakland Youth Vote Coalition. Launched in 2019.
Gallegos said the move to implement “Measure QQ” was inspired by the closure of school programs, which she believed was against the interests of students. In 2019, the Oakland School Board cut $20.2 million from its budget, including 100 jobs and several schools.
Many students said having the opportunity to vote in school board elections made them more involved in politics in general.
“Once I found out there might be an opportunity for our voices to actually be heard, I got even more interested,” said Anne Devey, 16, a senior at Skyline High School in Oakland. “It opened my eyes to how government decisions are viewed by young people.”
Debby’s classmate, Autumn Weems, 16, added that being able to vote motivated her to become more informed about issues affecting the school. “We’re basically now in a position to control our own education, which we should have been able to do,” she says.
Tommy Lemasny, center, and other students are celebrating being able to vote in the school board election.
(Meg Tanaka/For the Times)
Tommy Lemasny, 17, a senior at Skyline University, said voting made him more aware of the need for young people’s voices to be heard in politics.
“I want students to have more of a voice, not just adults who think they know everything,” Lemasny says. “Young people’s voices should be heard, especially when it comes to who represents us.”
At an event at Fremont High School, many candidates rushed to agree with students about the value of the youth vote.
Candidate Dwayne Aikens Jr. told students he grew up in Oakland as a victim of poverty and gun violence. He ran to improve schools and “put hope and aspirations on the ballot,” he said.
VanCedric Williams, who is running for re-election with Aikens, encouraged students to continue speaking out and seeking student involvement in budget decisions.
“We need to hear your voices,” he said. In response, the students gave him a big round of approval and applause.
Mr. Tanaka is a correspondent.
