Web Log
Feb 5, 02:18 PM | Author: jane kim | Category: politics
February 2008 YouthVOTE Results!!
PRESS RELEASE
CONTACT: Gentle Blythe
For Immediate Release (415) 241-6565
SF High School Students choose Obama, McCain,
vote yes to clean up parks>
February 3, 2008 (San Francisco, CA) – Early results are in, and San Francisco’s youth voted to have Barack Obama on the Democratic ticket and to clean up their neighborhood parks.
Last fall the San Francisco Board of Education, the SFUSD Student Advisory Council and the Mayor’s Youth Commission implemented mandatory curriculum, YouthVOTE, for every public high school in the city and registered eligible students to vote in the California primary. Over the past week they conducted a district-wide student vote.
For the purposes of this primary, students were asked to choose either a Republican or Democratic candidate and everyone voted on the bond measure Proposition A.
Results of the student vote:
•77.8 percent voted yes on Proposition A, known as the “Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks” bond.
•43.3 percent supported Senator Barack Obama for president.
•37.3 percent supported Senator Clinton for president.
•5.2 percent supported Senator McCain for president.
•2.1 percent supported Governor Mike Huckabee for president.
Belle Yan, a senior at Lowell High and a mayoral appointee to the city’s Youth Commission, has been active with YouthVOTE since August. She took part in the hand counting of the almost 7,000 ballots turned in last week.
“It was like neck and neck,” says Yan. “Clinton, Obama, back and forth, until Obama edged out Clinton in the end.”
The city’s Youth Commission coordinator, Kevin Liao sees the YouthVOTE as more than a mock election.
“YouthVOTE is a call to action for adults to make choices at the polls informed by what all San Francisco high school students themselves believe will improve the lives of young people,” says Liao.
Yan not only hopes the adults in San Francisco keep the students’ wishes in mind when they go to the polls on Tuesday, but also that the students who took part in YouthVOTE come away with some life-long habits.
“When you get involved like this, you learn that you’re not just one vote. You can educate others to get out there and vote too,” says Yan.
School Board Commissioner Jane Kim was the lead author for the school district resolution to make the voter education mandatory.
“High school is an essential setting for young people to be taught the value and practice of voting,” says Kim, “A voter curriculum in our schools encourages, educates, and increases voter participation among young people – especially those who are underrepresented in their government.”
In the presidential election of 2004, just 10 percent of voters were between the ages of 18 and 24. According to a recent study by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics, many students and young adults feel they do not have sufficient
time or information to be educated voters.
The San Francisco Unified School district and its community partners have implemented a YouthVOTE curriculum since 1992. However, this year’s mandatory participation has been more far-reaching and comprehensive. Students in American Democracy classes took part in three “Civic Engagement” days based on a specifically-designed standards-based curriculum.
YouthVOTE is a city-wide public school program for all high school students to learn about election issues. YouthVOTE is coordinated by a coalition of education/voter advocacy groups including the San Francisco Youth Commission, the Student Advisory Council of SFUSD, and the Board of Education.
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