Heard of Seattle’s Young People’s Project? Check out their mission statement—it says it alllll:

The Seattle Young People’s Project is a youth-led, adult supported organization that empowers youth (ages 13-18) to express themselves and to take action on the issues that affect their lives.

Most young people cannot vote, do not have financial resources, and are generally not given credit by the adult world for having intelligent opinions. Young people are excluded from the political process and from decisions impacting their schools, neighborhoods and communities.

Young people have firsthand experience with the issues that are impacting them, but their voices are ignored and misrepresented in the media. Adults are seen as the “experts” on what young people need. Well it’s time for youth to be heard and seen about their views.

Youth are on the forefront of every social and political movement for justice. Youth have the powerful ideas and skills needed to make social change. SYPP supports youth in turning their ideas into action. SYPP provides a youth owned organization with resources, office space, and organizing training so youth can work to change the system and be the leaders of our movement for social justice!

Now is the time for young people to lead their own struggle and be heard!

This August they are hosting their annual Youth Organizing conference (YO!) It’s an 8-day social justice training where you’ll participate in workshops and an overnight retreat. DON’T MISS IT. Applications are due July 24^th.

Application here.

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The Georgetown University Center for Education and the Workforce says so!

Not only are they guaranteeing that there will be jobs, they are also predicting HOW MANY jobs will be available to you, you personally, depending on how far you are through school. Take a look at some of the data here… it is intriguing to say the least. Table here.

In 2018:

If you went the distance for a graduate degree, there will be: 353,000 jobs available to you

If you graduated college with a bachelor’s (4 years of college): 730,000 jobs

Got your associate’s degree (2 years of college): 853,000 jobs

Finished some part of college: 399,000 jobs

Have graduated high school: 888,000 jobs for you

Dropped out of high school or are still finishing up: 325,000 jobs

But take a closer look at the table! It also shows WHICH OCUPATIONS those jobs are available in.

The field with the most available jobs: office administrative support (think Michael Scott!) with 519,000 jobs up for grabs. This field is also relatively friendly to people without college degrees: 229,000 of the 519,000 are slated for people who finished some college or less.

The field with the smallest amount of jobs available in 2018: social scientist (only 21,000 jobs, half of which will require a graduate degree!)

Bottom line: there will be jobs. Twice as many jobs for people who have some level of college education. And those jobs are primarily available in the healthcare, education, science and technology, and professional office management fields. This isn’t groundbreaking information, per say, but it is interesting to consider that of the 51 states, Washington has the 6^th highest percentage of jobs that require post secondary schooling.

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Esther. She’s 99 years old and is hitting the streets to collect signatures in order to get initiative 1098 on this November’s ballot.

Here’s why. Due to recession, Washington’s been cutting back funding for education. Slowly but surely its taking its toll on our schools—class sizes are going up, sports and extracurricular fees are increasing, electives are disappearing, and we don’t have the money to replace textbooks. Not to mention, statewide college tuition is rising and programs to help subsidize students are diminishing.

1098 would create a new and steady funding source for public education.

What’s 1098? It’s a revenue-generating initiative that would tax Washington’s top income earners. That means that if you make over $200,000 dollars a year, you’re getting an additional tax on your income. And guess what, that only applies to 3% of Washington’s population.

In addition to taxing our state’s high-earners, this initiative will cut property tax by 20% and eliminate the Business and Occupation (B&O) tax for 375,000 small businesses. This means tax breaks for more local businesses.

Back to Esther. How incredible is this woman? If you’re 18, sign up here to get the initiative on the November ballot.  If you’re not 18 and want to help out, e-mail me! We’ll be out on the streets, just like Esther, making sure Washington can approve I-1098 this fall.

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When: SAT. June 19^th, 11 am-3:30 pm
Were: YMCA downtown: 909 4^th Ave, Seattle

RSVP HERE

On June 19^th, Puget SoundOFF, League of Education Voters and Youth C.A.N. will be hosting a free workshop on technology and social networking to boost your skills and learn how to get engaged. Workshop runs from 11 am to 3:30pm and includes FREE LUNCH.

Here’s what we’re workin on—

Blogging
Vlogging (VIDEO + BLOG. boom.)
Video production
Digital photography
Telling a story through new media

Learn how these tools can help strengthen your voice as an advocate—while educating yourself on one of Washington’s biggest obstacles: fixing our public schools. Our graduation rates are low, our achievement gap is staggering and we haven’t changed our high school graduation requirements since 1985. Just a taste of the information to come!

When: SAT. June 19^th, 11 am-3:30 pm
Were: YMCA downtown: 909 4^th Ave, Seattle

RSVP HERE

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Hoping to secure a job this summer? Well, good luck. A new study shows just how discouraging the job market is for young people, “unemployment rates for both college graduates and non-graduates younger than 25 are nearly double their pre-recession levels.” This doesn’t really feel like news. For any of us out there hunting—we already know how tough the process is!

What is troubling about this information is that unemployment rates for high school and college graduates are both down—equally! This raises so many questions in my mind—mainly, why are students putting themselves into and average of 20k worth of debt for a 4-year degree?

A recent study from the Gates Foundation gives us a demographic look into this generation of college students—and college students are changing. More often than not, people enrolled in our nation’s institutions of higher ed are what policymakers call “non-traditional students.” In fact, 75% of our student population is “non-traditional.” If 75% of students enrolled are “non-traditional,” then it’s probably safe to say that traditional is no longer the norm.

Some more info to arm you with: of this group of students, 67% are working full-time while enrolled in classes while 44% work part-time. Only 14% are living on a college campus. These figures are blowing the notion of traditional schooling to bits. Bits.

This is not all to suggest that we give up on college, by any means. There is still plenty of data suggesting the more education you have, the better chances you have of getting work and also making more money once you get hired. What we’re seeing though is a REAL need for reassessment. If you’re thinking about college soon or are currently enrolled in classes, these are issues you are going to want to read up about.

For full texts of these articles, check it out here:

A Student Debt Crisis that cannot be Denied

Job Market for Class of 2010 Worst in Recent Memory

Unemployment and Educational Achievement

Lastly, Kanye West may or may not have made these similar claims about six years ago on an album called “The College Dropout.” You can also read up about that, here.

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Mayor McGinn is asking the Seattle community for their feedback on how to spend the City’s money—and he’s hosting a special forum on April 8^th specifically for young people to voice their opinions.

It’s a part of the City’s Youth and Families initiative, a project that will collect community input on Seattle’s most pressing issues. The information gathered will directly influence the upcoming Education and Families Levy, which is up for renewal by voters in 2011.

So far, discussions have been lively, large, and have inspired an incredible range of topics. Watch this video of the community forum held at Denny International Middle School to find out more about what’s been going on.

Youth Summit:
April 8
Bertha Knight Landes Room in City Hall
4:00-6:00pm

If you are interested in participating but are not able to attend the meeting on the 8^th, League of Education Voters is helping to coordinate smaller community caucuses. E-mail Maggie@educationvoters.org to find out more information!

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It’s March 2^nd. There are 10 days left in Washington’s 2010 legislative session. Guess what that means? It’s CRUNCH TIME, still. Just like yesterday. This week in Oly, legislators are tackling some big issues related to our state’s budget deficit (refresher, we’re 2.8 billion dollars in the hole). Plenty of programs have been proposed for cuts—and too many of these programs hurt the pockets of students.

One (of several) programs that are at-risk this session is Work Study. These are part-time jobs for students on campus which help the university fill necessary positions, help the student earn some extra cash, and help our economy by graduating students with real work experience.

Governor Gregoire has proposed to cut Washington’s ENTIRE work study program. Both the Senate and House have proposed to cut this vital program by at least $7.4 million dollars.

Here’s why Washington can’t afford to cut work study:

Work study programs provide part-time jobs to 9,400 students across the state, at 55 different campuses

For these 9,400 students, their annual earnings make up about 15% of their average financial aid package.

Work study jobs, on average, help fund $3,000-4,000 dollars of tuition per student, per year.

Can you imagine what it would take to make up for that missing money? If you think Work Study is as vital a program as we do, e-mail your legislators today and tell them to FULLY FUND Washington’s Work Study program. Let’s see some new revenue, too!

Speaker of the House:

Frank Chopp: chopp.frank@leg.wa.gov

Senate Ways and Means Committee Leadership (who delegate the ca$h)

Margarita Prentice: prentice.margarita@leg.wa.gov

Rodney Tom: tom.rodney@leg.wa.gov

Karen Fraser: fraser.karen@leg.wa.gov

House Ways and Means Committee Leadership

Kelli Linville: linville.kelli@leg.wa.gov

Mark Ericks: ericks.mark@leg.wa.gov

Pat Sullivan: sullivan.pat@leg.wa.gov

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Washington State Legislature is in the final stretch! It’s been a tough session so far, with lots of proposed cuts to crucial education programs. It’s crunch time now, our legislators and leadership need to hear from us now more than ever.

About what, you say? State Need-Based Grants. thasswassup.

The House has proposed to cut Washington’s need-based grants by $6 million. The Senate has committed to keeping them, but has made funding for these grants contingent on Washington passing new sales taxes. These are small taxes on consumer goods which are likely to fail because they are unpopular. This is unacceptable. Washington’s legislators MUST prioritize funding for need-based grants. Here’s why:

-Washington State has over 73,000 college students receiving some form of need-based grant or work study money, which is roughly 2/3rds of all students across the state.
-34% of money awarded through state need-based grants are given to students of color.
-Without these crucial grants and low-interest loans, students will be forced to take on more debt from private banks, work more hours, or drop-out of college.

Washington Student Association cooked up a recipe that gives you all the facts on need-based grants. Study up on the ingredients, then e-mail your representatives today and tell them to FULLY FUND state need grants and support a budget this session that includes NEW REVENUE.

Here are your key representatives:

Speaker of the House:
Frank Chopp: chopp.frank@leg.wa.gov

Senate Ways and Means Committee Leadership (who delegate the ca$h)
Margarita Prentice: prentice.margarita@leg.wa.gov
Rodney Tom: tom.rodney@leg.wa.gov
Karen Fraser: fraser.karen@leg.wa.gov

House Ways and Means Committee Leadership
Kelli Linville: linville.kelli@leg.wa.gov
Mark Ericks: ericks.mark@leg.wa.gov
Pat Sullivan: sullivan.pat@leg.wa.gov

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The House and the Senate released their proposed budgets for this session. With Washington’s 2.8 billion dollar deficit, we expected cuts. What did grandpa used to say after all? oh that’s right, “money doesn’t grow on trees.”

Thanks, grandpa.

Here are a few lowlights from the budget cuts, but if you want to read about all the education programs that have been reduced or cut, check out this one here.

Proposed cuts from the House budget would:

-Reduce work study programs by 7.7 million dollars
-Eliminate Navigation 101, money that goes towards career and college counseling services for students in 6^th-12^th grade
-Prohibit any more spending on state need grants (current recipients still get their funds, but nobody new next year)

Proposed cuts from the Senate budget would:

-Reduce work study programs by 7.4 million dollars
-Take away 103 million dollars from Kindergarten through 4^th grade classrooms, meaning bigger class sizes and fewer teachers
-Cut college campuses across the state by 6%– regardless of whether they are a 2 year or 4 year campus. This will create disproportionate affects for our State’s higher education institutions

Money may not grow on trees, but we can definitely do something about these missing dollars. We can generate new statewide revenue. Both the House and Senate budgets proposed ways to close tax loopholes and increase minor sales taxes, but it won’t be nearly enough to fill the gaps.

Jim Dawson of Fuse puts it plainly, “you’re looking at about $4 in cuts to every $1 in new revenue sources. The package is not big enough.”

Click here to find and tell your legislators to protect funding for these critical programs.

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John, a senior at Skyline High School in Sammamish

On Monday, LEV took a whole busload of students from around the state down to our state’s capital for a crash course in education advocacy.

Aside from free t-shirts and pizza (a good thing on any day), we also had the opportunity to get together with other students from their legislative districts and brainstorm some message points to deliver to our legislators. We even took part in the gargantuan Rally for Our Future on the steps of the Capitol building, along with 4,000 other like-minded students and citizens, and heard the personal stories of people from all over the state who demonstrated the need for new revenue and the ramifications of cutting funding for education and human services.

Maria and Jesus, who attend Health Sciences and Human Services High School in White Center, rallied to protect funding for kids, schools and human services.

The day culminated in an EPIC scavenger hunt around the capitol, where the student-advocates delivered their notes to their legislators, busted out dance moves on the floor of the rotunda in the Legislative Building, and had the opportunity to sit in on the debates on the House and Senate floors.

Parents brought their kids to Olympia to remind legislators who are impacted by state budget cuts.

It was pretty incredible to be able to see some of the inner cogs and gears of our government (supposedly) working hard on…something. It was also a pretty venue for students to express their opinions on the issues.

Jesus Robles, a junior at Health Sciences and Human Services High School in White Center, was one of a handful of students who stated their beef directly in a video testimony: “My favorite part was being interviewed over the issues in my school and sending the letters to the representatives and senators,” he says.

All in all, LEV gave over 40 students the opportunity to take a direct role in their government and gain some experience in working directly with their representatives.

We met with Sen. Margarita Prentice's legislative aide, Beau Perschbacher, to talk about how budget cuts could impact their schools.

“It was really exciting to express our concerns to the people who are making the decisions,” says Bill Dow, a freshman at the University of Washington, who had the opportunity to sit down with an aide from his state Senator’s office. He adds, “And I want to get marble installed in my dorm room.” (Marble is a pretty constant feature at the capitol-and yes, that includes the bathrooms.)

Experiences like this demonstrate the ease with which concerned students and constituents can see first-hand how their state is being governed, and convey their concerns to their representatives. It was a first time for me, and I was amazed at how we could simply walk into the offices of our representatives and senators and deliver them a note with our views, or pull them out of the chamber to talk with them directly. I mean, how cool is that?!

The answer, of course, is very, very cool.

We left Olympia with a better understanding of how our state is governed and how easy it is to convey our concerns to our elected officials.

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