Civic participation is the lifeblood of American democracy, and this is why former Montgomery County Regional Presidents Richard Yarrow and Ramida Phoolsombat have been advocating for increased student participation in the county’s policy-making process. In their Bethesda Beat Op-Ed, the pair shed light on the lack of student involvement in the county’s school policy decisions. As Montgomery County’s student population continues to increase, it is crucial that student voices be heard.
Though more involvement is desperately needed, the current level of student engagement in the decision making process should not be overlooked. Montgomery County’s “Student Member of the Board” (SMOB), for example, voices the needs of students while serving on the Board of Education (BoE) and is elected on an annual basis. The Maryland state legislature recently expanded the voting rights of SMOBs on June 16, 2016.
“We’ve been extremely fortunate to have really good SMOBs who advocate strongly for the voice of students,” Montgomery County Board of Education member Jill Ortman-Fouse said. Students who do not want to be SMOB but still seek to influence school policy making can run to join the Montgomery County Regional Student Government Association (MCR). MCR is a county-wide student government that represents the views of the student body, and it consists of elected MCPS high school students that advocate for student-related policies to the Board of Education.
Although MCR and SMOB are very important, there is still more to improve. “I absolutely believe we need more [student engagement]. I know we have not done enough,” Ortman-Fouse continued. Students and staff alike agree that increased participation is necessary to improve the public school system as a whole, for students provide valuable insight into how this system impacts them and what can be done to resolve issues such as increasing mental health support and closing the achievement gap.
One method of improving student engagement is using social media effectively. “We ought to do a better job communicating through vehicles like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and keeping with how students receive information nowadays,” Montgomery County Board of Education member Patricia O’Neill said.
Another way for the BoE to receive more feedback on policies is to increase its communication with student governments like MCR. The Board’s attempts to foster a stronger relationship with students would encourage students to increase their participation in the policymaking process.
Attending board meetings is another approach students can use to get their voices heard. “Coming to speak at board meetings is also a great avenue, where anyone from the public can come out. Students from the past have used this pretty effectively,” Board of Education member Michael Durso said. This option allows students to speak directly to the Board and ensures that they are heard.
It is pivotal that students seize opportunities such as these to their advantage while actively seeking out other ways to get their voices heard. According to SMOB Ananya Tadikonda: “It’s really what you make of it, it’s not what those platforms provide because those platforms are platforms to elevate what students want to do, it doesn’t limit them in any way at all.”
Moreover, increased student involvement will benefit the BoE and the policies they enact, as well as the students the policies affect. “If I were a student involved in policymaking, I would probably feel more allegiance with the school and feel more a part of the school instead of someone who is not involved at all,” Board Member Michael Durso said. It is vital that students feel a sense of inclusion within their community and especially their school, which is where they spend the majority of their days at.
The end goal of increased student engagement is to prepare students for their future responsibilities as American citizens. “We want our students to not only have political engagement but civic engagement,”O’Neill explained. Student engagement with local education policymaking will not only increase their political efficacy, but also prepare them for the future.
Read the interviews that were conducted for this article below:
Patricia O’Neill(BoE member):
Q: As of right now, what do you think is the most effective platform for student involvement in policymaking? For example, MCR, school boards, etc..
A: MCR is effective but I also think that the students can pay attention to MCPS tweets or information that comes out from MCPS and emails from the BOE.
Q: While MCR is a great platform, it probably doesn’t reach out to the maximum students possible because there is an application process. Do you think that is an issue?
A: That’s correct. It’s more limited.
Q: Are you satisfied with the abilities of this platform to involve students in policymaking processes? If not, what do you suggest?
A: MCPS is always looking for student involvement on various committees. In line with impacting policies directly, individual students can always have the opportunity to email the BOE. Whenever we send out policies, we send out a press release and put it up on the web and what we’re looking for is comments. We reach out in an attempt to communicate and it would be good to have more student participation and communication. We want our students to not only have political engagement but civic engagement seeing how students can (with a parent’s permission) participate. I certainly hope that students will comment on the draft policies that we are sending out since it WILL impact them as well as their rights and responsibilities. It’s important for individual students to be engaged, not only through MCR.
[Interviewer] I agree. We have to meet each other in the middle.
[O’Neil] I think a lot of adults are the same way *laugh*.
Q: What do you believe are the benefits that we can reap from increased student involvement in policymaking?
A: I think that my experience with students is that they are the real world users of policies that the BOE enacts. I think they can shape policies that are more in line with the 21st century and needs especially since we’re gonna be revising our technology policy and career readiness policy. I think the student voice and vital.
Q: What do you think you can do to increase levels of student involvement in policymaking throughout the county?
A: I think that MCPS needs to be mindful to the fact that students aren’t necessarily drawn to the MCPS website. We ought to do a better job communicating through vehicles like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and keeping with how students receive information nowadays.
Jill Ortman-Fouse (BOE member):
Q: As of right now, what do you think is the most effective platform for student involvement in policymaking? For example, MCR, school boards, etc.
A: MCR is great, however, I believe the SMOB is the most effective tool that students have to impact policy and we’ve been extremely fortunate to have really good SMOBs who advocate strongly for the voice of students. But I absolutely believe we need more. I would say that I would love for MCR for them to have increased testimonies. Board members and staff in central office have a big distance between themselves and what actually happens on site in schools. I would love to hear more directly from students before we make changes in policy. I think that technology allows lots of ways for us to have feedback in better ways. I would love to have student town halls by telephone so you could call into a number and listen to a town hall and speak in it. Transportation is a huge struggle in the county. I’ve talked to so many students that getting from one place to another can take one hour each way. So we need to do the best we can using technology, to hear from students. The biggest issues I think that we have in our county right now is mental health. I’ve been hearing about it before and since I’ve been on the board. If the board and central office truly listened, they would be able to hear the cries for help from both students and parents. I know we have not done enough. Of course it’s good for students to reap the best opportunities possible but if students are leaving our school system broken, there’s no point. If we had other ways to hear the students, policies would be more refined toward this. As a board member, I do believe we’re behind other systems on mental health policies. The superintendent is very aware of these issues and we got a huge grant to help boost attention towards these policies.
Q: What do you believe are the benefits that we can reap from increased student involvement in policymaking?
A: I think that we can have much more effective policies that support students and create a better environment for them if we link up with them. They can tell us what they need. By giving them control of the process and empowering them then we give them ownership of the outcome. That’s why I don’t believe top down policymaking works. When we have such an incredible student body that has so much to offer to policy making.
Q: What do you think you can do to increase levels of student involvement in policymaking throughout the county?
A: I think we can definitely use SurveyMonkey to get more opinions from students. I also believe that students can tell us good ways to get opinions from them. If we just ask them, I’m sure they would have a lot of ideas that we couldn’t even think of ourselves. This would help both board members and central office get a better feel of student lives. Once we enact a policy in a school, we have no idea what happens after that or even the impact of it. I think we don’t have a big enough BOE relative to the student body. We have a HUGE school system and are the 14th largest in the country out of about 14000 so we really need an easy way to get input from students.
Michael Durso, BoE member:
Q: As of right now, what do you think is the most effective platform for student involvement in policymaking? For example, MCR, school boards, etc.
A: You list several good local sources. I think the SMOB is great, and at this moment, Ananya is only the third to have full voting rights, giving her a little more clout. Coming to speak at board meetings is also a great avenue, where anyone from the public can come out. Students from the past have used this pretty effectively. Actually, another good avenue is the PTA or rather, the PTSA. This is a way that local parents and students can be effective.
Q: Isn’t the PTA more directed for parents though?
A: But it is the PTSA, more those involved parents that meet monthly. Students always tell their parents what is going on or complaints from the students which makes it a good vehicle. I believe it is an overlooked opportunity.
Q: Are you satisfied with the abilities of this platform to involve students in policymaking processes? If not, what do you suggest?
A: Well, a policy that students have really been involved in lately is the school calendar. Like, whether to include Lunar New Year, or different religious holidays. It’s a competition over these x number of days. Students came in and gave some pretty passionate speeches. Another important couple of issues is the grading ones especially because we’re not having semester exams like we did in the past. Those are always important for the students voice. Then there is always local situations that perhaps don’t affect the entire school system such as where students who can’t go out for lunch are a bit envious of those that do have that privilege. But on the flip side, there are safety issues with it, so we would like to hear the student voice on these issues to make these decisions. It’s good for school board officers to meet with administrative officers and hash these things out. The platforms out there can be effective, I know some school who use it pretty effectively so in the end, it’s about how much you take advantage of it.
Q: What do you believe are the benefits that we can reap from increased student involvement in policymaking?
A: If I were a student involved in policymaking, I would probably feel more allegiance with the school and feel more a part of the school instead of someone who is not involved at all. A benefit is that the school administration can also be more attentive to what is going on.
Q: What do you think you can do to increase levels of student involvement in policymaking throughout the county?
A: An administration that goes out of its way to be attentive to what is going on is extremely important. But another avenue that is overlooked is just student to student. You have some students who take advantage of everything the school officers but you also have students that just come to school and go home which is bad for the amount of involvement.
Ananya Tadikonda, current SMOB
Q: As of right now, what do you think is the most effective platform for student involvement in policymaking? For example, MCR, school boards, etc.
A: I think that if you really want to be a policy setter, then you ought to really vie out for the positions that you can get. But there is only one SMOB a year so there are other ways to do that such as MCR which is a county wide student organization or MCJC or Moco for change which has just started up, a countywide organization that lobbies for important issues such as gun control. If you’re focusing on things such as the achievement gap there are programs such as the minority scholars program.
Q: Are you satisfied with the abilities of this platform to involve students in policymaking processes? If not, what do you suggest?
A: I am absolutely satisfied, I believe that this is the greatest extent to which students can be involved. It’s really what you make of it, it’s not what those platforms provide because those platforms are platforms to elevate what students want to do it’s not to limit them in any way at all. They really give students access to many opportunities, more so than in any other parts of the country.
Q: What do you believe are the benefits that we can reap from increased student involvement in policymaking?
A: We can benefit by making change that accurately reflects the needs of students which is obviously very good towards students to cultivate the next generation. We can also help students learn about the important skills of civic engagement which is good to help continue our country in a positive trajectory.
Q: What do you think you can do to increase levels of student involvement in policymaking throughout the county?
A: We can publicize opportunities and emphasize that it’s not only about policymaking, it’s about skills you learn whether that be public speaking or learning about the way our country’s government works, et cetera.
Read Richard Yarrow’s and Ramida Phoolsombat’s Op-Ed here
Article by MoCo Student staff writers Ashley Ye and Faith Cheung of Richard Montgomery High School