School & District Management

Let Noncitizens Vote, Mayoral Hopeful Says

By Mary Ann Zehr — November 26, 2003 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

A candidate in the San Francisco mayoral runoff election is calling for the city to permit noncitizens to vote in local school board elections. The proposal is unusual but not unprecedented.

Matt Gonzalez, the president of the San Francisco board of supervisors and the Green Party’s mayoral candidate, believes that noncitizens should be able to vote in elections for the school board because they pay taxes, said Ross Mirkarimi, a spokesman for the Gonzalez campaign.

The runoff is scheduled for Dec. 9. Mr. Gonzalez’s opponent is Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who has not taken a position on the voting issue.

Mr. Mirkarimi said three of the seven San Francisco school board members have endorsed the proposal. The other board members have not taken a position, he added. The two largest ethnic groups in San Francisco who would benefit from the policy change would be Chinese and Hispanic residents.

David Ho, a community organizer for the Chinatown Community Development Center in San Francisco, said he personally supports the idea, though his organization hasn’t taken an official position.

Mr. Ho, who is Chinese-American, said that with two San Francisco school board members being Chinese-American, his ethnic community has adequate representation. But giving noncitizens a vote, he said, would help immigrant parents get more involved in their children’s education.

In addition, he said, such a system is one way to help immigrants to become acculturated “to a new democracy.”

Precedents Elsewhere

If Mr. Gonzalez, who is Mexican-American, is elected mayor and can persuade San Francisco voters to approve his proposal, the city would join some other U.S. communities in which noncitizens can vote for local officials.

Seven municipalities in Massachusetts and Maryland let noncitizens vote for local officials, according to Ron Hayduk, a professor of political science at Manhattan Community College in New York City, who has studied the issue.

In 1926, he said, Arkansas became the last state to change its policies so that noncitizens could no longer vote. In the late 1960s, New York City began to permit noncitizens to vote for members of community school boards if the voters had children attending city schools.

The 32 local boards were abolished by state law last year. A plan to ensure community input in lieu of the boards is being developed.(“Pact Preserves N.Y.C.'s 32 Subdistrict Offices,” June 18, 2003.)

Chicago ushered in a similar policy to permit noncitizens to vote for local school councils after they were set up in 1988, said a spokesman for the Chicago schools.

When asked why more politicians don’t advocate such a proposal, Mr. Hayduk said he thinks it’s because many don’t realize that the U.S. Constitution doesn’t preclude such a step, and that it’s up to states and municipalities to decide whether to permit it.

He added that some politicians might feel threatened by noncitizen voters, and worry “that a representative of new immigrants might take their place.”

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Equity & Diversity Webinar
Classroom Strategies for Building Equity and Student Confidence
Shape equity, confidence, and success for your middle school students. Join the discussion and Q&A for proven strategies.
Content provided by Project Lead The Way
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Professional Development Webinar
Disrupting PD Day in Schools with Continuous Professional Learning Experiences
Hear how this NC School District achieved district-wide change by shifting from traditional PD days to year-long professional learning cycles
Content provided by BetterLesson
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management After a Lesson on Michelangelo's David, a Florida Principal Loses Her Job
Parents complained that images of the famous sculpture were "pornographic" and that they weren't notified of the lesson in advance.
Michelangelo's marble statue of "David", is seen in Florence's Galleria dell' Accademia on May 24, 2004.
Michelangelo's marble statue of "David" is displayed in the Galleria dell' Accademia in Florence, Italy.
Fabrizio Giovannozzi/AP
School & District Management A New Federal Plan Could Make Free School Meals a Reality for More Students
The plan will mostly benefit districts in states where lawmakers have enacted universal free school meal policies.
5 min read
Young boy in a school lunchroom cafeteria line and choosing a slice of pizza to put on his tray which includes an apple.
SDI Productions/Getty
School & District Management Did Principal Turnover Increase During the Pandemic? Here's What We Know
The data are still scant, but what’s emerging shows a drop in 2020-21 and an increase the following year.
6 min read
Black and white male and female figures walking in different directions on a light blue textured background. One male figure is walking out of an open door.
Anton Vierietin/Getty
School & District Management MAP: Where School Employees Can and Can't Strike
See which states do and don't allow public school employees to go on strike.
2 min read
Amy Chapman and her daughter, first grader Corinne Anderson, pose for a photo while they support teachers on strike outside Whetstone High School in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022.
Amy Chapman and her daughter, 1st grader Corinne Anderson, show support for teachers on strike outside Whetstone High School in Columbus, Ohio, on Aug. 24, 2022.
Samantha Hendrickson/AP