Poll: Thoughts On High School Student Activism In The East Bay

Talkin' 'bout their generation.

Unlike Baby Boomers who became active in college when their Vietnam draft deferments ended, East Bay students are getting into politics in high school.

There was the at San Leandro High. Though ended, will work to pass a local parcel tax for San Leandro and are gathering signatures for a statewide tax on oil drilling to raise $3 billion for education.

Now journalist Katy Murphy reports how a senior class project at two Oakland high school has spawned a ballot initiative to make a college education a constitutional right for Californians.

Organized around the College For California Facebook page, the students and their supporters need to collect over 800,000 signatures by June to get their notion before voters.

Murphy says the amendment would guarantee a tuition-free state education to resident students who maintain at least a 2.7 GPA or perform 70 hours of community service each year. It would be paid for by an additional income tax on after-deductions earnings above $250,000 a year.

Chances for qualification are slim and none, Murphy's article suggests, given the realities of getting that many signatures in such a huge state.

But it's interesting to see East Bay students stepping into the political process so much earlier than their parents and grandparents.

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