Still Time for Schools to Help Register Seniors

Time is growing very short, but there is still time to register high school seniors who will be 18 by election day!

I encourage our public school systems to seriously take on this civic-minded, nonpartisan project. And I encourage our public school superintendents, our school boards, our PTA leaders, our teachers' union leadership, our student groups, and our civics and government teachers to act quickly, before the voter registration deadlines hit in October.

This election year, young people have shown great interest and excitement in our political process. We should make sure we help stimulate that interest, and our public schools can make a big difference by actively reaching out to register their seniors to vote, right now.

If we help our young people participate in this election, their involvement may last a lifetime.

If nothing else, public schools should actively encourage their students to go to web sites like www.rockthevote.com to register to vote.

Comments

[j.gold]

I have been doing it in my school since last year. I talk about the importance of it and even let them use their class computers to go to rock the vote. I have given stamps to mail the registration in from my own pocket. I teach in New Orleans and now McCain is only a five % points ahead. I think the last hurricanes have tighten the polls.

[DuPageDem]

Great idea. Too bad my school district in Elmhurst, a diversifying but majority white Chicago suburb in Republican DuPage County, for the first time has decided to cancel classes while hosting polling on election day. They use all sorts of code words to describe the intense interest in this year's election, the kind of pepole who will turn out, and 'stranger danger' fears. As a kid, I learned it's my duty to vote while watching adults file into school on election day. Apparently Elmhurst wants to make sure our kids don't learn that habit. And of course, no one in the Chicago media has called them on it.

[DASChicago]

Come on Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. please run for Mayor of Chicago, Please?

I've been waiting on you for 5+ years now, seriously.