I write a column for the Frederick News-Post. I just did one about Frederick County students voting to ask that their student representative to the school board have "partial" voting rights. The students, including the rep, do not believe that the student should have votes on key issues like the budget. The rep, herself, believes that she is not qualified to vote on the budget. Your Anne Arundel student rep has full voting rights, including on the budget. How has that worked out? Is that a good idea or bad? I would like to hear from you for publication in a future column. Here is a column I wrote on the topic yesterday. By the way, I tried to reach Pallas Snider, who is listed as the student rep, but the address, pallas.snider@aacps.org bounced back. What is her address? Is she still the rep? If not, who is the new rep?

Thanks,
Joe Volz
jvolz2003@adelphia.net
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Student power

Publish Date: 01/01/07
By Joe Volz
Frederick News-Post

There is one representative to the county school board who is hardly a household word. She ought to be.

Neera Nathan, a 17-year-old Frederick High School senior, symbolizes the best, the brightest and the most civic-minded of our students.

The school system Web site, http://www.fcps.org, reports that although she is currently taking four college-level Advanced Placement classes, she maintains a 4.6 weighted average. A member of the National Honor Society, she served twice as captain of the girls varsity tennis team and is vice president of the Frederick County Association of Student Councils (FCASC).

This year, she is the student representative, sitting in on meetings with the seven Board of Education members who run the schools.

What better way to learn about civics than participating in government, rather than just reading a textbook about how it theoretically works?

But, sadly, she is not a full participant in the democratic process, as practiced by the county school system. When it comes to voting on school issues with the board members, she is definitely a second-class citizen. She can't vote on key items that affect students, such as the school budget and negative personal issues or on school boundary changes --unlike the student representative in Anne Arundel County.

Yet, the student power movement is picking up steam throughout Maryland and now the FCASC has unanimously adopted a platform supporting "partial" voting rights for Ms. Nathan and her successors.

Ms. Nathan and fellow FCASC members have already learned a vital lesson in the art of politics -- attempt what is possible.

I asked her why she did not go for full voting rights.

Here is her e-mailed reply: "The FCASC believes that granting partial voting rights is the first step to an official voice on the Board of Education. At this time, the FCASC does not believe a student has the realm of knowledge necessary to vote on issues such as the budget or negative personnel matters, yet does have the realm of experience necessary to vote on issues such as high school graduation requirements."

If I were in her shoes, I would have pushed for complete equality

But Ms. Nathan is a much better politician than I am. She stands behind the FCASC platform "110 percent." But on the other hand, she adds, "This piece of the platform does not necessarily reflect" her views on wanting, or not wanting, just partial voting rights.

The issue of voting rights for student representatives to the board raises an intriguing question. Just how much power should teenagers have in determining the course of their education?

Is sorting out the budget too complex a project for even an honor student?

Or, is her lack of confidence unwarranted?

She says, "I don't know if I currently have the experience necessary to become a regular board member, whose responsibility is to make sound decisions on the behalf of all citizens of the county."

It is devoutly to be wished that some of her adult colleagues on the board made a few more sound decisions, not unsound decisions like building a new multi-million dollar administration building downtown while students around the county study in portable classrooms.

Could Ms. Nathan's thinking be any more muddled than that?

If you have any thoughts for Ms. Nathan, send her an e-mail at neera.nathan@fcps.org.

Or, better yet, let school board president Katie Groth, a veteran educator, know that you think Ms. Nathan should get the right to vote. You can reach Ms.Groth at katie.groth@fcps.org.

Jvolz2003@adelphia.net
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