Debra Bowen for California Secretary of State - Teaching Democracy: High School Students as Election Day Poll Workers

Teaching Democracy: High School Students as Election Day Poll Workers

California Progress Report
Sep 20, 2006
By State Senator Debra Bowen Democratic candidate for Secretary of State As the state Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Secretary of State unveiled a "Student Voting Project" on "National Constitution Day" to increase student awareness of democratic principles and the voting process, I teamed up with high school students to ask the Governor to sign SB 1193, a bill I authored to bring students out to serve as poll workers on Election Day so they can experience democracy first-hand. While mock elections are terrific, when students spend an Election Day actually at the polls, they'll get a hands-on lesson in how our government works that certainly can be as valuable as reading a chapter in a civics book. Encouraging young people to lend a hand at the polls lets them know voting is one of their most important civic responsibilities. Taking money away from schools and actually discouraging them from allowing students to work at the polls one or two days every couple of years doesn't teach students about democracy, it teaches them about short-sighted decision-making. Students from Acalanes High School in Lafayette (Contra Costa County) spent much of the spring and summer rounding up support for the measure, traveling to Sacramento to testify in support of the bill at committee hearings, and are now in the process of running a letter-writing campaign to urge the Governor to sign SB 1193 into law. It makes absolutely no sense to prevent schools from receiving their ADA money when a student misses a day of class to be a poll worker, while at the same time allowing schools to keep their ADA money when a student signs up for ‘independent study' and takes a two-week vacation. The voter turnout in the June primary election was a dismal 33% and much of that stems from the fact that young people aren't interested in elections or don't think it's important to take part. This measure is designed to ensure schools aren't penalized for encouraging their students to get out, get involved, and serve as poll workers on Election Day. Under current law, students can work at the polls on Election Day if they're 16-years-old and are a high school senior with a grade point average of at least 2.5. However, if a student misses school to work at the polls, the school loses the "average daily attendance" (ADA) money it's entitled to receive from the state for that student. As a result, many schools don't encourage students to serve as poll workers on Election Day. SB 1193 allows students to work as poll workers on Election Day as part of a one-day "independent study" project, which will entitle schools to receive the ADA payment as if the students were in the classroom. It makes no sense to put up road blocks to prevent high school students who want to get involved in their community from working at the polls on Election Day. This is really a common sense proposal that works as an investment in both our students and our democracy. Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill, AB 1944 (Hancock), in 2004, saying, "While civic and other volunteer activities can offer many educational opportunities to students, these activities should be in addition to, and not in place of, valuable classroom learning time with a teacher." However, SB 1193 is different from AB 1944 in that AB 1944 simply granted the schools ADA money in cases where students missed class to serve as poll workers. SB 1193 allows schools to keep their ADA money if a student takes part in a one-day school-approved independent study program where they'd make up any work missed in the classroom in order to serve as a poll worker. Schools currently keep their ADA money if a student knows they'll be absent for five or more days and signs up ahead of time for an independent study program to make up any work missed in the classroom. Time in the classroom is certainly important, but it's not the only way kids can learn how our democracy is supposed to work. This isn't any different from a school that takes a field trip to get students out of the classroom and put a ‘real world' face on what they're learning in textbooks. Schools shouldn't be penalized because they want to let their students learn first-hand for themselves about the nuts and bolts of how our democracy works. The bill is supported by the People for the American Way, the League of Women Voters, the American Association of University Women, the Association of California School Administrators, the California League of High Schools, the California School Boards Association, the California State PTA, the California Teachers Association, and the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials. State Senator Debra Bowen is the Democratic candidate for California Secretary of State. She is the Chair of the Senate Elections, Reapportionment and Constitutional Amendment Committee and has authored many bills on the electoral process. Link to article

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