In November of 2024, 16 and 17-year-olds in Berkeley will be able to vote in the Berkeley Unified School District School Board elections for the first time. This measure was also passed in Oakland. This new legislation came into place after Measure Y1 was passed in 2016, with over 70 percent of voters electing to have students be able to vote for school board elections, according to the BUSD website. This system will work using California’s pre-registration system, meaning that any 16 and 17 year-olds in Berkeley are eligible to register as a youth voter, according to a BUSD press release. However, to vote in the BUSD election, you must be a resident of Berkeley, meaning that transfer students and non-Berkeley residents are not able to vote for BUSD's school board, the press release explained.
This measure is the result of the work done by the Registrar of Voters, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, the City of Oakland and the City of Berkeley as well as their respective school districts, and many community-based organizations, according to the BUSD press release. The press release adds on, writing that despite the bill being passed in 2016, it has taken years to implement due to the complexity of organizing voter registration, ballot mailing, ballot counting, all of which needed to be programmed and tested especially for youth voters.
According to the U.S. Census on voter turnout, the age group of 65 and above have the highest voter turnout percentage of 74 percent. Additionally, voters are 71 percent white, 81 percent high income, and 79 percent have a college education. Students voting in school board elections will aim to address voter disenfranchisement, Jules Droz, vice president of BHS Civic Leaders Club, explained.
“We really hope that the sooner we get students to go vote, the more they'll vote in the future. And so it becomes a habit. By implementing this, we also want them to vote when they're 18 and older,” Droz said. According to Droz, there is very low engagement from young voters in elections outside of the school board election such as general elections, presidential elections, and congressional elections.
“I hope it will lead to increased empowerment, increased political engagement and civic engagement, and more youth influence and agency. But that will only happen if students opt in and take advantage of the opportunity,” Kendra Lubalin, an Academic Choice World History teacher, said.
The results of this election will also affect key issues that the school board are currently working on, like the achievement gap, Longfellow relocation, lack of teacher diversity, teacher retention, and budget cuts.
According to the City of Oakland, over 70 percent of Berkeley residents voted that students should be able to vote for their school board members. However, there are 30 percent of voters who oppose this idea. “I think some people oppose these measures because a lot of people don't think that children's brains are ... developed enough to form fully fledged opinions. But I think since it directly correlates to what the children are learning, I think it's more important what the children think than what the adults think,” Kelly Boylan, the club sponsor of the BHS Civic Leaders Club, said.
According to Boylan, many BHS teachers are encouraging their students to vote. “In class, we are learning about the school board race, talking about the different candidates, and I did give students some extra credit if they went to the forums,” Boylan said.
Shoshana O’Keefe, a BHS AP Computer Science Principles teacher who is running for the Berkeley City Council, said that she encourages students who she knows to vote. “Just the students I know well who are of age. I've asked them if they are doing it and if they have any questions about how it works, offering my support,” O’Keefe said.
“I want students to learn how to know what's on the ballot, how to know what those things mean, how to know who supports them and who they will impact, and then decide how they want to vote on them ... By Nov. 5th my students will know everything on the Berkeley ballot, including school board, but not only school board,” Lubalin said.
While many BHS students believe that the changes being made surrounding the school board elections are great steps in the right direction, some students, such as Levenson, believe that there still needs to be more progress. To register to be a candidate for the Berkeley School Board you need between 20 to 30 signatures and need to pay $150 (or collect more signatures to pay less), Levenson explained.“ I feel like they should make it a lot harder to get on the ballot for school board elections... I think they should raise the twenty signatures to at least a hundred, ” Levenson said.
Lubalin also believes that there are still obstacles blocking students' right to vote. Students who want to register to vote either need their driver’s license or ID card, which if students don’t have, is a lot of work to obtain. “I wish the steps for students to register were something they could do easily, because the more students who take advantage of the opportunity to vote, the more it will show those in power that voice is something youth want in politics,” Lubalin said.
In general, people are happy students are able to make decisions about the school board candidates. “I am so glad that the school board has to have to answer to students as their constituents because they make decisions that affect students," Boylan said.
O'Keefe added, “I hope students really feel the power that they're given by being asked to weigh in directly on who they're representing. I think it's a really wonderful thing, and I hope everybody who is eligible takes advantage."
Students and teachers believe students having the ability to vote for their school boards is very important for a number of reasons. First of all, students are able to decide who will be making important decisions for Berkeley High School, Eva Levenson, president of the BHS Civic Leaders Club, explained. Civic Leaders is a club intended to empower BHS students to understand and participate in local and federal elections. “I think it's super important. School board members have the ability to make huge changes in our education and it’s really important and really awesome that a greater percentage of the student population can vote for them,” Levenson said.
According to Oakland Youth Vote, a coalition aimed at gaining the right to vote in school board elections for Oakland students, the school board is the district’s highest in command, above the superintendent, school principals, teachers, school directors, and students, meaning they have the majority of the decision making power. According to the BUSD website, the school board is responsible for advocating for the needs of the school district, for creating and voting on policies, managing district funds, and overseeing the superintendent, who is implementing the goals of the school board. The members of the school board are elected for four year terms. Within the BUSD school board there are five voting directors and two student directors, although they do not get a vote.
According to the U.S. Census on voter turnout, the age group of 65 and above have the highest voter turnout percentage of 74 percent. Additionally, voters are 71 percent white, 81 percent high income, and 79 percent have a college education. Students voting in school board elections will help address voter disenfranchisement, Jules Droz, vice president of BHS Civic Leaders Club, explained.
“We really hope that the sooner we get students to go vote, the more they'll vote in the future. And so it becomes a habit. By implementing this, we also want them to vote when they're 18 and older,” Droz said. According to Droz, there is very low engagement from young voters in elections outside of the school board election such as general elections, presidential elections, and congressional elections.
“I hope it will lead to increased empowerment, increased political engagement and civic engagement, and more youth influence and agency. But that will only happen if students opt in and take advantage of the opportunity,” Kendra Lubalin, an Academic Choice World History teacher, said.
The results of this election will also affect key issues that the school board are currently working on, like the achievement gap, Longfellow relocation, lack of teacher diversity, teacher retention, and budget cuts.
Berkeley residents voted that students should be able to vote for their school board members. However, there are 30 percent of voters who oppose this idea. “I think some people oppose these measures because a lot of people don't think that children's brains are ... developed enough to form fully fledged opinions. But I think since it directly correlates to what the children are learning, I think it's more important what the children think than what the adults think,” Kelly Boylan, the club sponsor of the BHS Civic Leaders Club, said. According to Boylan, many BHS teachers are encouraging their students to vote. “In class, we are learning about the school board race, talking about the different candidates, and I did give students some extra credit if they went to the forums,” Boylan said.
Shoshana O’Keefe, a BHS AP Computer Science Principles teacher who is running for the Berkeley City Council, said that she encourages students who she knows to vote. “Just the students I know well who are of age. I've asked them if they are doing it and if they have any questions about how it works, offering my support,” O’Keefe said.
“I want students to learn how to know what's on the ballot, how to know what those things mean, how to know who supports them and who they will impact, and then decide how they want to vote on them ... By Nov. 5th my students will know everything on the Berkeley ballot, including school board, but not only school board,” Lubalin said.
While many BHS students believe that the changes being made surrounding the school board elections are great steps in the right direction, some students, such as Levenson, believe that there still needs to be more progress. To register to be a candidate for the Berkeley School Board you need between 20 to 30 signatures and need to pay $150 (or collect more signatures to pay less), Levenson explained.“ I feel like they should make it a lot harder to get on the ballot for school board elections... I think they should raise the twenty signatures to at least a hundred, ” Levenson said.
Lubalin also believes that there are still obstacles blocking students' right to vote. Students who want to register to vote either need their driver’s license or ID card, which if students don’t have, is a lot of work to obtain. “I wish the steps for students to register were something they could do easily, because the more students who take advantage of the opportunity to vote, the more it will show those in power that voice is something youth want in politics,” Lubalin said.
In general, people are happy students are able to make decisions about the school board candidates. “I am so glad that the school board has to have to answer to students as their constituents because they make decisions that affect students," Boylan said.
O'Keefe added, “I hope students really feel the power that they're given by being asked to weigh in directly on who they're representing. I think it's a really wonderful thing, and I hope everybody who is eligible takes advantage."
This article was written to accompany the article "Word On The Street: Why is youth involvement in voting important".