While the sign on letter has been sent to the transition team, we welcome additional organizations signing on as public supporters of the Roadmap to Authentically Engage Youth Voice in the U.S. Department of Education. We will continue to amplify support, share campaign updates, and communicate about strategies and tactics to ensure the next Department of Education centers young people as a primary stakeholder.
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Dear President-elect Biden, Vice President-elect Harris and the Education Agency Review team,

We write to urge the Biden-Harris Education Agency Review team to meaningfully engage students as partners in the next Department of Education. Pre-school through university students are learning amid the historic convergence of an unprecedented public health emergency, the worst economic recession since the Great Depression, widespread uprisings for racial justice, and the urgent need for climate action. This generation is facing a learning context unlike any generation before us.

Against this backdrop, the Department of Education faces many deep existing and yet-unforeseen challenges to advance equitable learning for every student. Therefore, young people, particularly those who have been most marginalized by the education system, must be essential partners in developing accurate policy priorities and effective solutions to educational inequity.

We, the undersigned XXX organizations, are in solidarity with this student initiated call for meaningful student engagement in future federal education policy. It is abundantly clear that young people are eager and prepared to create change within the education system.

Based on surveys from over 1,500 students, listening sessions with over 100 students since the election, and the Student Bill of Rights framework that is endorsed by 7,000 students, we recommend five key mechanisms that the Department of Education can employ to achieve meaningful youth-adult partnership. The US Department of Education should:
1. Ensure the next Secretary of Education prioritizes student voice
2. Convene regular listening sessions and roundtable discussions with students and stakeholder meetings with student groups across offices at the Department
3. Include students on all commissions, workgroups, and convenings across the department
4. Reinstate staff person(s) in ED focused on youth engagement
5. Establish a “Learn Back Better” federal advisory committee with student members about the intersections between COVID-19, economic recovery, racial equity, and climate change and ED’s role

We provide a clear definition of student voice, as recognizing and acting upon the fact that students are the primary stakeholders of our education and should be partners in shaping it. We recognize that student voice exists on a spectrum and that tokenism of young people can occur at every level of the spectrum if relationships are not meaningful. It is incredibly critical that for youth voice to be a tool to achieve equity, power must be meaningfully shifted towards young people who are most marginalized by the education system.

Our recommendations are consistent with a field of student or youth voice research that has emerged in the last several decades to provide evidence that thoughtful inclusion of student voices can increase academic motivations, strengthen reports of positive school climates and boost students’ overall perceptions of school. The Department of Education is poised to extend this field through the implementation of student voice at the highest institutional level.

With urgent crises compounding, now is a critical moment for our nation’s education system. For the Department of Education to adequately address the needs of America’s students, it is necessary to be in  rigorous, consistent, and authentic conversation with young people. The methods through which students are engaged must be thoughtfully designed and implemented to meaningfully uplift the experiences and expertise of those most impacted by educational inequity. The Biden-Harris Administration, and particularly the Department of Education, must take advantage of this moment to lead the way in elevating young people as advocates for justice in our public schools and in our nation.

Sincerely,
Student Voice
18by Vote
ACCEPT: Admissions Community Cultivating Equity & Peace Today
Afterschool Alliance
Alliance for Climate Education
Alliance for Excellent Education
America's Promise Alliance
American Federation of Teachers
Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS)
Association of Young Americans
Black Excellence Pipeline
California AfterSchool Network
Center for American Progress
Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council
Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University
Center for Youth & Community Leadership in Education (CYCLE) at Roger Williams University
Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy
Coalition for a Multilingual Rhode Island
Collaborative For Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL)
Consortium for Educational Change
Content By Us
Danbury Family Learning Center, Inc.
Design for Equitable Systems
Diversify Our Narrative
EDGE Consulting Partners
EL Education
Enlight
EmpowerEd
Future Coalition
Generation Citizen
Generation Progress
GENup
GLSEN
Grantmakers for Thriving Youth
Greater Lawrence (MA) Education Justice Alliance
Hanford Student Equity Committee
Heirs To Our Oceans
Houston Youth Climate Strike
Human Restoration Project
IDEA: Institute for Democratic Education in America
Institute for Citizens and Scholars
Iowa Student Learning Institute
Kentucky Parents in The Know
Kentucky SHAPE
Kentucky Teachers in The Know
Kentucky Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Kentucky's Student Voice Team
KYREADS
Latent Talent Accelerator
March for Our Lives
Maryland Youth Advisory Council
MCHS Student Council (KY)
Modern Learners
Montgomery County Students for Change
National Association of Secondary School Principals
National Center for Learning Disabilities
National Student Council
National Urban League
National Youth Council for Real History Education
National Youth Leadership Council
National Youth Rights Association
Next Generation Coalition
Open Way Learning
Oregon Student Voice
Our Turn
Cyrus Driver, Partnership for the Future of Learning
Mary Gonzalez, Partnership for the Future of Learning
PDK/Educators Rising
Portland Empowered
Public Advocates
Pure Edge, Inc.
Sandy Hook Promise
SchoolHouse Connection
SDIAE: South DeKalb Improvement Association Education, Inc.
Sean’s Legacy
Southern Poverty Law Center
STEMchats
Student Leadership Initiative Program
Students for Equity through Education (S.E.E.)
Students for Gun Legislation
SciTech Institute
Teach For America
Teens Take Charge
The Admit List
The Forum for Youth Investment
The Nellie Mae Education Foundation
The Research Hub for Youth Organizing at University of Colorado Boulder
Thompson Scholars
TNTP
University of Washington Center for Educational Leadership
The Urban League
UrbEd Inc
Washington Student Association
Y'22 (A Youth on Boards Movement)
YMCA Youth and Government
Young Invincibles
Youth Activism Project
Youth In Action
[Organizations]