News in brief
Local effort boosts teen voting numbers
The abysmal level of voter participation posted by eligible high school students over much of the past three decades may see an improvement this year - in Philadelphia, anyway.
Organizations like the League of Women Voters, Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth, and a university-based civic education project are working to register high school students to vote. The latter project, called Student Voices - an initiative of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, with support from the School District - seeks to register every eligible high school student before the deadline of October 4.
"The effort to register voters is just the first step in educating students about candidates and issues and why it's important to vote," said Phyllis Kaniss, National Director of the Student Voices Project.
About 55 percent of eligible voters in the 18-to-25-year age group participated in the 1972 presidential election, following the ratification of the 26th Amendment that lowered the voting age to 18. Since then, participation has dropped 13 percent nationwide and 11 percent in Pennsylvania.
Studies conclude that young people feel government and elections fail to incorporate or involve issues that are of concern to them and that youth do not understand the impact of government on their everyday lives.
In 51 Philadelphia public high schools, the Student Voices project is now part of the social studies curriculum. With PCCY and the League of Women Voters, the project last spring registered 800 high-school voters.
Student Voices has planned same-day voter registration assemblies to take place in every high school on September 22. For more information on Student Voices, call 215-898-7041.
Bush budget: cuts in school funding planned
The Bush administration's proposed federal budget will lead to reduced funding for Title I and special education, an examination by the Center on Budget Policy and Priorities has revealed.
A pair of federal budget analysts from the Center on Budget Policy and Priorities (CBPP) presented the figures at a town meeting on September 10 at the National Constitution Center. Sponsored by the Institute for the Study of Civic Values, the meeting was titled, "Federal Cutbacks and the City."
Martha Coven, of the Washington D.C.-based CBPP, explained that tax cuts and increased spending on defense were primarily responsible for a projected cumulative ten-year deficit totaling $3.7 trillion from 2002 to 2011. The Bush administration is responding with cuts in the areas of education and youth support, housing and community development, job training, welfare-to-work, health, AIDS programs, and drug treatment.
The center's data indicate that funding for education and youth support will decrease 11.6 percent by 2009, after adjusting for inflation and population growth. The decrease reflects projected drops of 10.5 percent for Title I (the federal initiative that funds high-poverty schools), 13 percent for school improvement, and 8 percent for special education.
Several local and regional speakers cautioned against losing sight of the real-life significance of the budget cuts. The federal money Philadelphia receives is "community funding. to create jobs for people, to help get a better education in school," moderator Edward Schwartz reminded the town meeting audience. "When that federal money disappears, city money doesn't replace it."