WEBINAR: Democratizing Schools with Participatory Budgeting
Date: Thursday, June 4, 2015
Time: 11am – 12pm (PST)

Download the webinar slides [PDF]

Schools and school districts operate large and complex budgets – often with minimal participation from the community members and youth they work to serve. But it doesn’t have to be this way! Join the Participatory Budgeting Project to learn about how participatory budgeting (PB) can encourage transparency in school budgets, reveal the most pressing needs of students, and promote democratic decisions that result in better schools and neighborhoods. PB is a democratic process in which ordinary community members directly decide how to spend part of the public budget. It has been used around the world for 25 years, in over 1,500 cities, to lift up the needs of communities and make public spending more equitable. You can watch a short video about PB here.

The webinar will include an in-depth look at the first school-based PB processes in the U.S., highlighting three high schools around the country that are leading the charge to lift up student and parent voice. We’ll be joined by representatives from Californians for Justice to discuss the PB process at Overfelt High School in San Jose, recently profiled in EdSource, and from Mikva Challenge and Embarc Chicago to discuss the PB process at Chicago’s Sullivan High School. Join us to learn about these case studies and explore how participatory budgeting could work in your school or school district.