Dear President-elect Biden, Vice President-elect Harris, and the Education Agency Review team,
We write to urge the incoming Biden-Harris Administration to meaningfully engage students as partners in the next Department of Education. Pre-school through university students are learning amid the historic convergence of an unprecedented public health emergency, the worst economic recession since the Great Depression, widespread uprisings for racial justice, and the urgent need for climate action. This generation is facing a learning context unlike any generation before us.
Against this backdrop, the Department of Education faces many deep existing and yet-unforeseen challenges to advance equitable learning for every student. Therefore, young people, particularly those who have been most marginalized by the education system, must be essential partners in developing accurate policy priorities and effective solutions to educational inequity.
We, the undersigned 100+ organizations, are in solidarity with this student initiated call for meaningful student engagement in future federal education policy. It is abundantly clear that young people are eager and prepared to create change within the education system.
Based on surveys from over 1,500 students, listening sessions with over 100 students since the election, and the Student Bill of Rights framework that is endorsed by 7,000 students, we recommend five key mechanisms that the Department of Education can employ to achieve meaningful youth-adult partnership. The US Department of Education should:
- Ensure the next Secretary of Education prioritizes student voice
- Convene regular listening sessions and roundtable discussions with students and stakeholder meetings with student groups across offices at the Department
- Include students on all commissions, workgroups, and convenings across the Department
- Reinstate staff person(s) in ED focused on youth engagement
- Establish a “Learn Back Better” federal advisory committee with student members about the intersections between COVID-19, economic recovery, racial equity, and climate change and ED’s role
We provide a clear definition of student voice, as recognizing and acting upon the fact that students are the primary stakeholders of our education and should be partners in shaping it. We recognize that student voice exists on a spectrum and that tokenism of young people can occur at every level of the spectrum if relationships are not meaningful. It is incredibly critical that for youth voice to be a tool to achieve equity, power must be meaningfully shifted towards young people who are most marginalized by the education system.
Our recommendations are consistent with a field of student or youth voice research that has emerged in the last several decades to provide evidence that thoughtful inclusion of student voices can increase academic motivations, strengthen reports of positive school climates, and boost students’ overall perceptions of school. The Department of Education is poised to extend this field through the implementation of student voice at the highest institutional level.
With urgent crises compounding, now is a critical moment for our nation’s education system. For the Department of Education to adequately address the needs of America’s students, it is necessary to be in rigorous, consistent, and authentic conversation with young people. The methods through which students are engaged must be thoughtfully designed and implemented to meaningfully uplift the experiences and expertise of those most impacted by educational inequity. The Biden-Harris Administration, and particularly the Department of Education, must take advantage of this moment to lead the way in elevating young people as advocates for justice in our public schools and in our nation.
You can read the full Roadmap to Authentically Engage Youth in the U.S. Department of Education here: https://www.stuvoice.org/resources/youth-voice-in-ed-report
Sincerely,
Student Voice
Student/Youth-led groups:
18by Vote
Black Excellence Pipeline
Content By Us
Design for Equitable Systems
Diversify Our Narrative
Future Coalition
GENup
The Greater Good Initiative
Greater Lawrence (MA) Education Justice Alliance
Hanford Student Equity Committee
Heirs To Our Oceans
Houston Youth Climate Strike
Iowa Student Learning Institute
Kentucky's Student Voice Team
Lead Kentucky
March for Our Lives
Maryland Youth Advisory Council
MCHS Student Council (KY)
Montgomery County Students for Change
National Student Council
National Youth Council for Real History Education
National Youth Leadership Council
National Youth Rights Association
Next Generation Coalition
Oregon Student Voice
Pride in Running
STEMchats
Student Leadership Initiative Program
Students Toward Equitable Public Schools (STEPS)
Students for Equity through Education (S.E.E.)
Students for Gun Legislation
Teens Take Charge
UrbEd Inc
Washington Student Association
Wuf Shanti Children’s Wellness Foundation
Y'22 (A Youth on Boards Movement)
Youth Activism Project
Youth In Action
Adult-led groups:
ACCEPT: Admissions Community Cultivating Equity & Peace Today
Afterschool Alliance
Alliance for Climate Education
Alliance for Excellent Education
America's Promise Alliance
American Federation of Teachers
Aspen Institute Education & Society Program
Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS)
Association of Young Americans
California AfterSchool Network
Center for American Progress
Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council
Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University
Center for Youth & Community Leadership in Education (CYCLE) at Roger Williams University
Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy
Coalition for a Multilingual Rhode Island
Collaborative For Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL)
Consortium for Educational Change
Danbury Family Learning Center, Inc.
EDGE Consulting Partners
EL Education
Enlight
EmpowerEd
Generation Citizen
Generation Progress
GLSEN
Grantmakers for Thriving Youth
Human Restoration Project
IDEA: Institute for Democratic Education in America
Institute for Citizens and Scholars
Kentucky Parents in The Know
Kentucky SHAPE
Kentucky Teachers in The Know
Kentucky Speech-Language-Hearing Association
KYREADS
Latent Talent Accelerator
Modern Learners
National Association of Secondary School Principals
National Center for Learning Disabilities
National Parent Leadership Institute
National Urban League
Our Turn
Open Way Learning
Cyrus Driver, Partnership for the Future of Learning
Mary Gonzalez, Partnership for the Future of Learning
PDK/Educators Rising
Portland Empowered
Prepared To Teach
Public Advocates
Pure Edge, Inc.
Sandy Hook Promise
SchoolHouse Connection
SDIAE: South DeKalb Improvement Association Education, Inc.
Sean’s Legacy
Southern Poverty Law Center
SciTech Institute
Teach For America
The Admit List
The Education Trust
The Forum for Youth Investment
The Nellie Mae Education Foundation
The Research Hub for Youth Organizing at University of Colorado Boulder
Thompson Scholars
TNTP
University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership
YMCA Youth and Government
Young Invincibles
Youth Service America
About Student Voice
Student Voice is a by-students, for-students 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works in all 50 states to equip students as storytellers, organizers and institutional partners who advocate for student-driven solutions to educational inequity. Through direct civic action, Student Voice helps students hold their schools and surrounding communities accountable to the Student Bill of Rights and prepares them to become lifelong agents of social and political change. For more information about Student Voice, visit our website at StuVoice.org and follow @Stu_Voice and #StuVoice on social media.
