[RESOLUTION TO SUPPORT Non-Citizen Voting in School Board Elections]
WHEREAS, 51% of the students in the San Francisco Unified School District are Chinese, and 21% are Hispanic, and
WHEREAS, many of them have non-citizen parents who are very concerned about their children’s education in the public school system and who would like to participate in decisions on its improvement, and
WHEREAS current educational research overwhelmingly confirms that parental involvement in our schools has a direct, positive impact in increasing academic achievement for immigrant, language minority and other low income student, and
WHEREAS federal law found under the “No Child Left Behind” act, specifically recognizes that all parents must be provided “substantial and meaningful opportunities to participate in the education of their children.” The Act also requires that school districts ensure that immigrant parents are informed of how they can become involved in the education of their children and that schools provide an effective means of outreach to facilitate immigrant parent involvement, and
WHEREAS, non-citizen parents are tax payers of the City, and have many contributions to the social, religious, cultural and economic life of our City, and
WHEREAS, these non-citizen parents do not have the right to vote in elections of the San Francisco School Board, and
WHEREAS, San Francisco prides itself as a City of Immigrants, and
WHEREAS, the City and County of San Francisco, as a chartered city in the State of California, has the authority to decide on the voting qualifications for elections for the School Board of San Francisco’s Unified School District, therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Immigrant Rights Commission supports non-citizen parents in that they should deserve the same level of recognition and respect as other voting parents, and be it further
RESOLVED, that these non-citizen parents deserve their voices to be heard and have voting rights in educational matters of the San Francisco School Board, and be it further
RESOLVED, that the Immigrant Rights Commission supports the charter amendment sponsored by Supervisors to enable non-citizen parents to vote in elections of the San Francisco School Board.
