Schools
Dreaming through uncertainty: democracy doesn’t pause and neither do you
This past month, contending with COVID-19 and the ensuing shelter in place orders, has stretched and tested us all in many ways. We have felt the limitations of technology, questioned how we can prioritize equity in a virtual world, and moved to support our partners across the country as they come together to adapt. Democracy…
Read MoreCelebrating this year’s biggest wins: revitalizing democracy in 2020
Happy Holidays from all of us at PBP! After a busy 2019 launching exciting new projects like Democracy Beyond Elections and PBCan, and working with incredible communities like students in Merced and educators in NYC, we took some time in November, during our staff retreat, to look at the big picture. We want to extend a big thank you…
Read MoreUnleashing Student Power: PB in Colleges and Universities
Unleashing Student Power in Colleges and Universities By: Eric Billbrough Special thanks to Salvator Asaro, Alexander Kolokotronis, Jenni Innes, William Novello, Michael Menser, and Jacob Klipstein for sharing their experiences with PB and student government at their colleges and for their continued efforts to organize for more democratic campuses. As summer comes to a close,…
Read MoreInvesting in the Young Leaders of Today
The bell rings. Students spill from buildings into the hot, dry air of the desert. Concrete carries them into the sun. Heat waves along the horizon melt friends and buildings into distorted pools of color. The sting of the sun searing their skin distracts them from the oven-like air, but it does little to dull…
Read MoreHow students can decide school budgets and policies
Young people need safer and more supportive schools. Whether in Parkland, Florida, or in communities of color that face violence daily, students are demanding more of a say in how their schools are run. This spring, we showed how schools can take student voice to the next level: Invite students to directly decide school spending…
Read MoreWhen the people decide the budget, here’s what they fund
When people first learn about participatory budgeting (PB), they often ask if it really makes a difference—if PB shifts funding to higher priority issues. At the Participatory Budgeting Project, we’re answering this question—with data! Using New York City Open Data and the NYC Council capital discretionary budget, we built myPB, a tool for tracking projects…
Read MoreWant to Improve Education? Empower the Students.
Top 5 reasons Participatory Budgeting improves students’ education. By: Shari Davis and Dylan Welch Autumn is here — and with it, a renewed conversation about how educators, parents, and communities improve their students’ education. Often in this discussion, solutions come down from on high through public officials or people within the educational system. This fall,…
Read MoreSchool engagement that’s almost too good to be true
Last year, we shared the very wonderful story of how Participatory Budgeting (PB) was introduced at P.S. 139, a local elementary school in Brooklyn where Miro (the son of our co-Executive Director Josh Lerner) goes to school. PB addressed a sincere need at P.S. 139: a need to connect with families at a school of nearly…
Read MoreBuilding Community and Student Power in Public Universities
Urban public universities are difficult places to find community. In what are largely “commuter schools”, students have less opportunities to connect on a daily basis. Many students balance coursework, family commitments, and multiple jobs. It’s easy for campus life to fall by the wayside. In the face of this, Participatory Budgeting (PB) is a vital…
Read MoreBIG News for PB in Schools – and a BIG invitation!
Did you hear? Just this week Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the launch of Participatory Budgeting (PB) in all public high schools in New York City! That’s over 400 schools in total! In his State of the City address, Mayor de Blasio emphasized: “We’ve got to prove to our young people that they’ve got the…
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