Hall 1

Lauren Hall
Coco
English 1001
Final Draft of IP
30 April 2016
Audience: High school students/Students pursuing a college education, parents of
students, teachers/professors, and administrators
Process Preface:
In high school, I did a lot of work advocating for the student voice. So, when I sat
down to begin research and start writing, I found it very easy. I understand most of the
jargon used when talking about ed. Policy. Something that is hard though, is reaching
and looking for new information that I dont already know and can learn from. I need to
really begin to narrow down what I am going to cover in the paper, but I feel like I have a
solid start so far. A few questions I have going into the peer review stages of my paper
are: Should I include more information about budget cuts in both Kentucky and
Louisiana? Is the paper becoming too strict and is my voice getting lost in the research?
Lastly, going into the final draft of my paper, if I had two more weeks to work and
improve on my paper, I would try and incorporate more examples of states who are
experiencing budget cuts. In the revision stages after the peer review, I added in some
examples in Louisiana, but I wish I could have talked about states other than just
Kentucky and Louisiana. Ive learned a lot from writing this specific paper, but
something that was really challenging, and unlike any research paper Ive written before,
is being unbiased. Instead of trying to push one side of an argument, in this paper, I
presented the facts but was still able to let my voice come through in my writing.
Student Voice: A Civil Rights Movement
Lack of the student voice is a civil rights issue. This is not womens suffrage,
slavery, or mistreatment of culture, but rather, a hidden civil rights battle being fought in
our schools every day. Students are sitting in classrooms for thirty to forty hours a week,
absorbing material like sponges. Students are the consumers and the teachers,
administrators, and legislators are the marketers. Companies look to the vulnerability of
students and young parents as a scheme to make profit or to simply dumb down our
society. But, like many civil rights movements before, students are ready to seek change
and be that change. They are no longer going to sit on the sidelines and let policy affect
their daily lives, while continually having no representation in decision making. Students

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will no longer be seen as the majority, while being represented as a minority. One
question we can begin to look into though, is: How are students being incorporated in
education policy, in states like Louisiana and Kentucky, where budget cuts and false
promises are at the forefront of education policy?
Reform is a word that many tend to shy away from. The word comes with many
negative connotations: change, distance, or foreign are just a few. But, imagine a world
where reform is a positive change, one that benefits all, but is not equal. Pure equality can
never happen, due to the sheer fact that not everyone will be satisfied with the outcome of
a decision. Within policy and legislation, compromise is what makes equality thrive and
dance off the walls in Congress. But sadly, in todays divided Congress, there is little to
no dancing happening inside those concrete walls. History textbooks rave about the
struggles and trials that civil rights advocates overcame, but what they failed to mention,
is that many of those struggles are still alive and well, and are beginning to bleed into
other facets of life. Laws and policy are beginning to become bloodstained. For example,
in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Kentucky Revised Statute 160.352 speaks on behalf
of the Superintendent Screening Committee and Minority Representation within said
committee. However, one minority they have continued to leave out are students.
Kentucky Revised Statute 160.352 defines what a minority is: American Indian,
Alaskan Native, African American, Hispanic, or persons of Mexican, Puerto Rican,
Cuban, or Central and South American origin. All of these different minorities are being
represented throughout Kentucky schools (Commonwealth of Kentucky). This law is
sending minorities, teachers, board members, principals, parents, and employees to these
screening committee meetings, but still, no student representatives. But the question at

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hand is: Why are students constantly being left out of the decision making? The answer is
simple: Students are seen as place holders, not stakeholders.
Whether administrators, teachers, or even legislators advocate for the student
voice to be represented, security and confidentiality is always an issue when students are
at the forefront of decision making. Many people believe that the student voice is
unnecessary for two reasons: students do not understand the need for certain
confidentiality procedures within education policy and decision making; and, students
have nothing worth value to add to the conversation. But, as students, we have a well
formulated rebuttal to these concerns.
Confidentiality is the politically correct way of saying, We dont want you to
hear our idea yet because we are afraid youll come up with a better idea. In the political
sphere, words take on different meanings. In many aspects, keeping things confidential is
important to insure safety and security, but students are at risk by having their voices
hindered. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind though. There is no prescription
found in law or policy that prevent students from handling information associated with
the superintendent screening process, and there is precedent in other parts of the country
for students very successfully handling it. Youth development and board training experts
say that just as with adults, the key to students success in handling sensitive information
on any board is training. So, if confidentiality or security is an issue during administrative
decision making processes, why not hold students to the same expectations as adults.
Adults should not be seen as a higher up. Students and adults should work as partners and
be seen as equals (Levin, Belin).

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The question everyone loves to ask is, Why?. Usually the first response to
controversial statement, Why? is a three letter word that can trigger a three hundred
page response. In the dense topic of education and the policy within it, why is a
question that has constantly come up surrounding student representation. Why should
students be represented and what are they going to bring to the table? Students sit in their
classrooms for up to 30 hours a week. School is a full time job. But, even though
students are unpaid, they are beginning to rally as a union. Students are the chief
stakeholders of education (Nair). These policies are being written around students,
without the input of students. Having a student represented during decision making
would ensure that all minority members and opinions are being equally represented.
Students understand the foregoing issues that their peers face, and are able to express
those to administrators as part of the decision making process (Boyer). Generation Y has
a much more progressive and free flowing way of thinking, which tends to push things
through to see a positive change. Policy needs the view and voices of students.
The representation of students goes beyond just a student council or an advisory
group. All across the Commonwealth of Kentucky, groups of students are fighting for
their voices to be heard. A small facet within the larger group of Inspire Kentucky, a
Kentucky YMCA sponsored organization working towards advocacy and democracy in
Kentucky, has been fighting for student representation on school councils and site based
decision making councils, better known as SBDMs (Urist). This small group consists of
students from all different backgrounds and counties, even better to represent the needs of
all different students. The group collaborated efforts to work towards filing a bill and
having a bill sponsored to include students as a mandatory member on school councils.

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While these efforts were going on, a group from the Prichard Committee for Academic
Excellence was beginning to make waves.
The Prichard Committee Student Voice Team began in a small coffee shop in
Lexington, Kentucky. The group started as a coalition between students and their adult
partners, and that progressive idea. Since the groups founding, it has grown to 50
Kentucky students ranging from Central Kentucky, to Louisville, to the far Appalachian
Mountains, and the urban landscapes of Washington, D.C., Bloomington, Indiana, Chapel
Hill, North Carolina, and now to Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Brennen). The Student Voice
Team is a self selected group of middle schoolers, high schoolers, and undergraduate
students along with the ir adult partners from the Prichard Committee. Since their
founding in the small coffee shop, the Student Voice Team has presented at professional
development conferences, met with and testified to legislators, and written opinion pieces
for local and national media outlets. But, with students who are concerned about the
student voice, the structure of the Student Voice Team began to change. Their main focus
is in three areas: Kentucky Core Academic Standards, Postsecondary Education, and
School Governance (Belin, Kidwell).
The Student Voice Team has made waves in the Kentucky 2015 Legislative
Session with the introduction of House Bill 236. House Bill 236 calls for an act to add
students to the Superintendent Screening Committee selection process (Belin). The
conversation between both legislators, students, and community members has been about
the three key provisions behind the student voice: confidentiality, added student
prospective, and popularity contests. These are issues seen in all aspects of life,
especially in the world of policy. With confidentiality being addressed through student

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trainings, popularity contests are addressed from a similar case study out of
Montgomery County, Maryland. The Baltimore School District chose to add a high
school student to the school board. The student first had to get x number of faculty and
administrative signatures, along with x number of peer signatures to be selected to be put
on the ballot. From there, the students are peer elected. By doing this, it allows a faculty
overlook and administrative oversight by still allowing the students to vote. House Bill
236, uses this model as one of many examples of how to combat popularity contests
within Kentucky high schools. Similarly, the provision being added by House Bill 236 to
Kentucky Revised Statute 160.352, is completely optional, leaving it up to local school
districts to opt in or out for a student member on the Superintendent Screening
Committees (Commonwealth of Kentucky).
Following House Bill 236, the Student Voice Team didnt slow their role in terms
of making a statement about the inclusivity of students in education policy. This past
January, Kentucky and Louisiana both welcomed new governors, Governor Matt Bevin
of Kentucky (Republican), and Governor John Bel Edwards of Louisiana (Democrat). To
no surprise, they both presented new budget proposals for the upcoming years. Governor
Bevin came in facing a retirement and pension deficit and Governor Edwards came in
facing a budget shortage in the education funding for the state. Although coming into
office and taking on loads of priorities, messed up agendas, or budget fall throughs can be
challenging, its important that politicians work for a compromise to make all
constituents feel that they can trust their legislators. In Kentucky, students were again left
out of any decision making in the budget crisis, and the Governor made the ultimate
decision of cutting 4.5% of funding to Kentuckys public universities. He states that his

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plan is to use that money to help with the debt in state employees pensions (Loftus).
Concerning, yet not surprising, Governor Bevin is using money, that is specifically
supposed to be used for education, to fund pensions. Some may say its misguided
priorities, others, like Attorney General of Kentucky, Andy Beshear, say its downright
illegal. But, budget cuts arent always the problem. For example, in Louisiana, instead
of budget cuts, they had budget failure or fall through. So, money that was originally
allotted for a specific cause, i.e. education, was used elsewhere and not journalized.
Now, the problem is that the money that was supposed to be used for the state wide merit
based scholarship, TOPS, has disappeared. The state is scrambling and coming up with
solutions so that students can still receive TOPS, but theyve already began to implement
stricter regulations for the scholarship to make up for lost money.
Students are the chief stakeholders of education, and they intend to see that
throughout the dense subject of education and the policy within it, but they must first
fight the on-going battle of student representation in education policy. The fight is
continually being fought throughout Louisiana and Kentucky schools, the nation as a
whole, and expanding to a broader audience throughout the country. Education policy is
being discussed on the national and state levels through Common Core and even things
like the Kentucky Core Academic Standards. The policy that is affecting students so
directly is also being debated within schools, social media outlets, and by the students
themselves. Overall, students are slowly but surely allowing their voice to create an
impact on the policy that affects them most directly, but they are still constantly left out
of the conversation and the decision making.
Works Cited

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Belin, Rachel. "The Case for Supporting Students as Education Policy Partners." Prichard
Committee for Academic Excellence. Lexington Herald-Leader, 2 Jan. 2015.
Web. 10 Apr. 2016.
Boyer, Mark R. "The Importance of Student Voice." QED Foundation. Singapore
American

School, 2 May 2013. Web. 8 Apr. 2016.

Brennen, Andrew. "Kentucky.com." Andrew Brennen: Time for Change in Ky.'s School
Funding. Lexington Herald-Leader, 6 Mar. 2014. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.
Kentucky State Legislation. "KRS 160.352." Kentucky Legislature. Commonwealth of
Kentucky, 15 July 1998. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
Kidwell, Karen. "Kentucky Department of Education." : Kentucky Core Academic
Standards. Office of Next-Generation Learners, 31 Oct. 2014. Web. 1 Apr. 2016.
Levin, Sam. "Students Dont Need a voice. Heres What They Really
Need."Washington Post. The Washington Post, 16 Apr. 2014. Web. 8 Apr. 2016.
Loftus, Tom. "Bevin Orders Immediate University Budget Cuts." Courier-Journal. N.p.,
1 Apr. 2016. Web. 30 Apr. 2016.
Nair, Sahil, and Gentry Fitch. "Kentucky Connections: Prichard Committee Student
Voice Team." Kentucky Connections. Kentucky Educational Television.
Lexington, Kentucky, 10 Apr. 2016. Television.
Urist, Jacoba. "Should Students Sit on School Boards?" The Atlantic. Atlantic Media
Company,

23 Apr. 2014. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.

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