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The
Immigrant Voting Project |
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PRESS RELEASE May 17, 2004 Supervisor
Gonzalez to put immigrant voting in school board elections before San
Francisco voters On Tuesday, May 18th, at 1:15 PM on the steps of City Hall, community leaders, including educators, parents, students, immigrant advocates and elected officials, will announce support of a ballot initiative to allow immigrant parents with children in San Francisco's school system to vote in school board elections. The proposed November initiative will be introduced by Supervisor Matt Gonzalez to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. A significant portion of SFUSD's students come from immigrant households that currently cannot fully voice their concerns to the school district because they are not allowed to vote for board members. Gonzalez's proposal will remove this barrier and encourage greater parental participation, which studies have consistently shown is required for good schools. Allowing all parents to vote in school board elections will increase accountability and the responsiveness of the school district so that all parents will have an equal voice in addressing their children's educational needs. The proposal will also help integrate immigrant parents into our democratic culture, providing an entry point for greater civic participation. While the San Francisco Unified School District does not keep track of the number of children of immigrants, 37% of the San Francisco population is immigrants and 30% of all SFUSD students live in non-English speaking households. Despite the disproportionate representation of immigrant children-many of whom are US citizens- in San Francisco classrooms, non-citizen immigrant parents are unable to vote for School Board members sensitive to the needs of their children. Voting allows them to hold elected board members accountable: "While all children have the fundamental constitutional right to an education, immigrant students don't have a voice that advocates for their needs," said Alan Wong, San Francisco Student Delegate to the Board of Education and student at Lincoln High School. "By voting, our parents will become more invested in the educational and democratic process." Bertha Hernandez, an immigrant parent with 2 children in San Francisco public schools, understands the barriers faced by many immigrants in becoming citizens: "Most immigrants are doing everything they can to attain citizenship, but face enormous and costly INS backlogs and bureaucratic red tape," she explained. "It is unfair to ask parents to wait an average of 10 years to become citizens while their child goes through a school system." According to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services processing times for common immigration petitions increased from 40-100% over the past few years and application backlogs are at an all-time high. "This is not just a civil rights issue, this is a parents' rights issue," said Sharen Hewitt, an African-American community activist and grandmother of three children in San Francisco public schools. "We can't expect our schools to improve if only a fraction of our parents are participating and lobbying for the needs of all our children. Parents whose children attend public schools should have the right to help select who will represent their children on the school board." San Francisco would be the first California city to allow immigrants to vote in local elections. Over the past 25 years, however, jurisdictions in Maryland, New York, Illinois, and Massachusetts have permitted immigrant voting. For a 150-year period until the 1920s, 22 states and territories allowed immigrants to vote and hold office. Over 23 countries currently allow some form of immigrant voting including Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and Chile. "This is not a new idea. Our Founders and many city and states throughout American history adopted the idea that the integration of immigrants in the democratic system is an investment in our democracy," says Supervisor Gonzalez. "This initiative is about improving our city's educational system and educating immigrants in the democratic process," says San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Mabel Teng, a supporter of the proposal. Press contacts:
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