The formation of student unions.

In much of the world, high school students have their own "student unions." These take on concrete political meaning. Students strike over issues relevant to their lives as students- for instance, education budgets. THey often work in concert with teachers' unions. They take on a serious role for participating students as well. Leadership in the unions is open to upper-level students, the equivalent of American seniors and sometimes juniors. Becoming an active union leader takes a "rite of passage" quality, offering students a position of peer prestige based in social organization and organizing bound to the economy and political world as a whole.

American schools are beset by myriad problems real and imagined, yet neither liberals nor conservatives offer solutions that seem very effective. They tend to offer bandaid solutions, appealing to either conservative fantasies of discipline or liberal ideas of coddling and nurturing youth.

Neither are mistaken per se. But they leave out a crucial element, the bit of surplus that might make educational reforms actually function. They do not empower students. They give students no real freedom nor the responsbility that accompanies true freedom. How can we expect them to become anything resembling virtuous adults if they are never given opportunity to become such? And so reforms are tried and attacked and tried and attacked from different ends of the spectrum, and the default effect, the least common denominator, becomes more bureaucracy, more administration, more regulation, and less and less freedom for students and teachers. Costs escalate with few real results, and kids lose interest in what becomes empty training for a life they don't want.

The most effective way to challenge this is for teachers and students to actualy work together in real unions, and use these cooperative organs to push substantial academic reforms in secondary education.

In any moment, a variety of political issues present themselves for ready use by such organs. Current real-world issues are as follows:
*the war- counter-recruitment; building international connections with student groups to broaden understanding and encourage dialogue

*environmental degradation- refocusing high school curricula to promote sustainability education; refocusing school infrastructure to support ecological ends, for instance by hosting community gardens, using alternative energy sources, encouraging bikes and buses instead of car culture (after all, car ownership as a rite of passage into adulthood takes root in high school), etc.

In addition, student unions can focus on perennial academic issues.

*Promoting project-based learning over mass learning.

*Promoting small group learning efforts over overfilled classrooms.

*Promoting service learning, genuine civic education, and practical apprenticeships.

*Promoting the integration of practical knowledge and classroom knowledge.

The real question becomes one of promotion. Who might lead experimentation with high school student unions in America? Who will experiment with them to build their toolkit of effective political, rhetorical and organizational tactics and strategies? Who will lend such organs some legitimacy? I would suggest one of the major teacher unions as a possible champion, or even union locals. I would also suggest the formation of a low-capital nonprofit organization that serves primarily to facilitate these activities. Finally, with some coordination, a variety of progressive groups could support such groups through simple political ties.

[For instance, many environmental groups or anti-war groups have student wings, and by supporting these organizations they might build a permanent fount of potential rejuvenation and support for their own organizations. The participation of organized labor is key, as students must come to view their learning as bound to the concrete economy that shapes the world around them, or else the alienation of the modern school/workforce remains unchecked.]