Amanda King may skip three classes today to get an education in civics.
The Community College of Allegheny County student said last week that she’ll be among the students packing Pittsburgh Council Chamber for a 10 a.m. hearing on Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s proposed tuition tax.
“I’d like to get more involved with the local officials, and I think going to the hearing is a first step,” said the Shaler resident, who plans to study broadcasting at Point Park University and rent a city apartment next year.
Ms. King voted in 2008 — the first election for which she was old enough — but skipped this year’s municipal balloting. In that sense, she represents one of the big questions in politics: Why are young people who turn out for presidential contests chronically absent during other elections?
That question has a new, local variant: Will Mr. Ravenstahl’s Nov. 9 proposal of a 1 percent levy on tuition prompt a short-term show of student furor, or a long-term increase in youth engagement in local politics?
“I think in a very backwards way, the mayor may have given us a little favor in pushing for this tax, because it’s really gotten students engaged,” wrote Aaron Gross, chair of the Undergraduate Student Senate at Carnegie Mellon University, in an e-mail response to questions. “My feeling is that students who have been through this issue will definitely come out and vote come next election because of it.”
Read the full Post-Gazette story here
Tags: tuition ta
Loading ...
