According to the Student Bill of Rights published by the DOE each year, students have the right to “organize, promote and participate in a representative form of student government.” Additionally, they have the right to “representation on appropriate schoolwide committees that impact on the educational process, with voting rights where applicable.”
It’s a shame, then, that most schools don’t have student governments, or don’t have effective ones. Many of the Student Governments that do exist in schools are generally in charge of bake sales and dances but have no real voice in their school. It’s hard to know whether this is because the students are unomotivated, because they recieve little cooperation from their school, or both.
The NYC Student Union has developed a student government model, as part of the Student Government Project, based on the idea that an effective student government is not a privilige but a right. Here's what we've got so far:
A Good Student Government has direct contact with the principal of the school and an agreement by the principal to cooperate with the Student Government and respect their ideas that includes:
* A way to communicate with the student body (announcements, a newsletter) and a way for students to communicate with their government (voting, a suggestion box).
* A fair method of choosing student representatives that ensures enthusiastic and voluntary participation.
* Representation beginning on a smaller level (prefects, classes, grades) which expands to the whole government and the principal.
* Scheduled and consistent meetings in a space provided by the school.
* Fundraising for prioritized purposes derived from the desires of the student body.
* Representation on other, larger committees (school safety, School Leadershi Team, etc.)
* We're still crafting this basic model. If you have revisions, suggestions or new ideas for us to consider, please let us know, by visiting the Student Union or commenting here, on this post.
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