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The Annenberg Institute for School Reform works with a variety of community organizations to build their capacity to become effective partners in what we call a smart education system — a high-functioning district joined to a range of local stakeholders to ensure students’ success in school and beyond. Through the Institute’s work with youth organizing groups, we've learned that because youth are affected most directly by and have the highest stakes in school outcomes, they often see issues from their daily lives whose importance policy-makers overlook. Our case study series Organized Communities, Stronger Schools documented two examples:

• In the Northwest Bronx, parents and youth brought attention to overcrowded and aging school facilities in their communities (Mediratta, McAlister & Shah 2009).
  
  
• In Los Angeles, students concerned that their schools were not preparing them for college led a campaign that resulted in the district’s adoption of a mandatory college preparatory curriculum for all its high schools (Shah, Mediratta & McAlister 2009).

The Institute provides research and capacity-building support to New York City’s Urban Youth Collaborative (UYC), a coalition of low-income students of color that focuses on educational issues. We asked seventeen-year-old UYC member Adolfo Abreu to describe the role of youth organizing in education reform, and he responded:

Students and parents are both affected by the policies that the Department of Education makes, but they have no say in what at the end of the day is affecting them. Youth organizations are the ones that give the youth a voice on the issues that are directly affecting them concerning their education.

A good example of the power of youth voice to affect issues of educational justice comes from a transportation campaign in New York City. In December 2009, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) proposed cutting free and reduced student metro cards, which would prevent low-income families from sending their children to school outside of their neighborhoods. UYC leaders realized that would relegate them and their peers to the lowest-performing schools in the city and decided to take action. Fourteen-year-old Valerie Bynaar laid out the issue at UYC’s first public action as part of the transportation campaign, a rally in front of the MTA headquarters:

I am trying to make sure that the Black kid can go to school, the Latino kid can go to school, the Asian kid can go to school, and the immigrant kid can go to school — schools that can provide them with the best opportunities in life.

UYC’s campaign to save student metro cards was entirely led by high school students — making the decision to take on this issue, meeting with hundreds of students, developing and implementing campaign tactics, meeting with scores of legislators, and using the media to elevate the issue. The power of their arguments came from their personal stories about why they leave their neighborhoods to attend schools. UYC was successful in saving free student transportation by pressuring the state, city, and MTA to negotiate a shared funding agreement.

This campaign is just one example of the important work youth organizing groups are doing across the country. As Adolfo Abreu described it,

[Students] are the experts because they experience the flaws within the education system, and youth organizations give the youth the power to reform their lives. By building their base, the youth organizations are able to reform their lives by mobilizing people into action and applying pressure to their targets who have the decision-making power. Once there, a relationship can be formed with the elected [officials] in which the youth organization can apply pressure to the elected [officials] to pass pieces of legislation. Reform can truly begin to be implemented once the elected [official] is pushed into convincing his/her colleagues into changing policies for the better.

Metro cards have been saved in New York City, and UYC will continue to focus on campaigns around educational justice — access to college, academic preparation for low-income students, and transparency around school safety polices. And beyond campaign work, UYC members and students will continue to demonstrate what seventeen-year-old Khaair Morrison explained to press and attendees at a press conference celebrating UYC’s victory:

We want to thank all the allies and elected officials who came out today, but remind you that this isn't just about them. It is about us — the youth here today who planned this and came together today. Today we show them that our destiny is not written for us but by us.

References

1. Shah, S., K. Mediratta, and S. McAlister. 2009. Securing a College Prep Curriculum for All Students: Community Coalition, Los Angeles. Providence, RI: Brown University, Annenberg Institute for School Reform.
   
   
2. Mediratta, K., S. McAlister, and S. Shah. 2009. Improving Schools through Youth Leadership and Community Action: Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition and Sistas & Brothas United. Providence, RI: Brown University, Annenberg Institute for School Reform.

Prepared by
Caitlin Ervin
Senior Collaborative Coordinator for Youth Organizing
Community Organizing and Engagement,
Annenberg Institute for School Reform
caitlin_ervin