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(EMAILWIRE.COM, November 02, 2009 ) NEW YORK, NY – In a stunning show of political strength, Mike Bloomberg exceeded even his own expectations in his bid for a third term for Mayor of New York City, rolling over his rival, Comptroller Bill Thompson, 56 percent to 27 percent.
Bloomberg’s strong showing in this election is important because it comes among a group of New Yorkers that aren’t even allowed to vote yet – high school students. Significantly, 17 percent of the 122 students casting votes - roughly 1 in 6 - chose “None of the Above” in the race for Mayor.
Portending the Real Election?
For the past two months over 120 New York City high school students have been closely following the mayoral election.
“Even though he is the richest man in New York,” said one high school voter, “his business connections are what we need at this time of economic crisis. And Thompson hasn’t shown he is up to the task.”
Political buffs and others interested in tuning in on what the students think can visit http://vote18plp.ning.com/.
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The students are being encouraged by their classroom teachers at Pace High School, a new “small” public school with which Pace is a partner, and at the Upward Bound program housed at Pace University. The students and their classmates get significant mentoring from three Pace undergraduates and their professor, Pace political scientist Christopher Malone, an innovator in ways to stoke civic interest in young people.
The project is using materials developed by Vote 18, a nonpartisan, nonprofit group that over the last four years has organized civics lessons around short, simulated elections in high schools from New York StateÂ’s Hamptons to El Paso and Los Angeles. Curriculum materials and stipends for the Pace student mentors are funded by a grant to Pace from the Verizon FoundationÂ’s Thinkfinity program, which develops technological resources in education.
The high school students taking part in the “Political Literacy Project” come from a cross-section of city neighborhoods. One group attends Pace High School in Chinatown; the Upward Bound group other is part the federally funded program that serves high school students from low-income families and families in which neither parent holds a bachelor's degree. The goal of Upward Bound is to increase the rates at which participants finish secondary education and enroll in and graduate from postsecondary institutions.
The Political Literacy Project is unfolding in several phases. It kicked off in September with a civics lesson on the importance of voting taught by Vote 18’s Executive Director and Co-Founder Marco Ceglie. In the weeks before the mayor’s vote, the 120 students who have been designated “Political Literacy Reporters” have analyzed the mayoral election in their blog posts from four different perspectives: the issues, the ad wars, media coverage of the campaign, and candidates’ attacks on each other. The goal is to give the reporters a solid grounding in all aspects of a political campaign.
In November, the Political Literacy Reporters will shift their attention to every kind of elected office in New York City. They will report on officeholders ranging from city council members, district attorneys, U.S. senators, members of Congress and the governor to state assembly members and borough presidents. The students get weekly questions to blog about, growing out of their experiences, issues and class discussions.
Pace, Vote 18, and the Importance of Civic Education
Ceglie, Vote 18’s Executive Director, said: "The votes that came out of the Political Literacy Project today reflect to fundamental truths that we've seen since we began the Vote 18 program; that young people, once engaged in the political and civic process in ways that relate to their daily experience, will participate and vote based on their interests. We only need to make that initial connection, and then educate them on the basic people and processes that affect their daily lives.”
“Achieve this,” he added, “and young people will engage and vote in each and every election - especially local ones."
Pace University Student and PLP Peer Leader Jackie Kopel concurred: “Today's vote is an early success for our Political Literacy Program. Just a few short weeks ago many of these students related to the civic and political process as something other people cared about. Now they are informed and engaged and interacting with the very issues and elected officials who are making decisions that directly affect their daily lives."
About Pace University
For 103 years Pace University has produced thinking professionals by providing high quality education for the professions on a firm base of liberal learning amid the advantages of the New York metropolitan area. A private university, Pace has campuses in New York City and Westchester County, New York, enrolling nearly 13,000 students in bachelorÂ’s, masterÂ’s, and doctoral programs in its Lubin School of Business, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Lienhard School of Nursing, School of Education, School of Law, and Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems. www.pace.edu
Visit us on the web: Pace.edu | Facebook - Pace University News | Twitter @PaceUNews| Flickr | YouTube. Follow Pace students on Twitter: NYC | PLV
Contacts:
Dr. Christopher Malone
Associate Professor of Political Science
Director, Pforzheimer Honors College NYC Campus
1 Pace Plaza NY, NY 10038
212-346-1146 http://webpage.pace.edu/cmalone
Cara Cea
Pace Public Information
914-906-9680
ccea@pace.edu
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