Read the selection and choose the best answer to each question.
A Different Approach to Budgeting
(1) If you had to choose just one, would you vote to fund new air conditioners in the cafeteria or a school carnival? Money matters, and budgeting helps us pay for what we need. Who decides how the money to pay for school is spent? It's an important question. According to the Center for Public Justice, 50 million students attend U.S. public schools. Most communities have a school board of elected officials who make budget decisions that affect every student. But a different system is growing in popularity: participatory budgeting, often shortened to PB.
(2) With PB, more people get a say in how money is budgeted. When PB is used by school districts, this includes students! Some people are pleased to have students involved in the school budgeting process. Others are concerned that the idea is unrealistic. If students determine spending decisions, will they choose to fund what's best for schools?
(3) To understand participatory budgeting, it is helpful to first look at its history and how it works. PB began in the 1980s and is now used in over 3,000 cities worldwide. Community members help plan city budgets to fund everything from city roads to public swimming pools. PB is also used today by some school districts. This different approach to budgeting requires planning for it to work. It has five stages: designing the budgeting process, brainstorming project ideas, creating project proposals, selecting the projects to be funded, and implementing the winning ideas.
(4) Participatory budgeting can benefit students in several ways. Debating ideas and voting on them offer civic learning opportunities and the chance to work together to address shared problems. The Community Development Project researched some of the effects of PB and found that "participants actively engaged in discussions and decision-making and worked collaboratively. with other community members." PB participants feel an increased sense of social responsibility and learn that their decisions have the power to affect their lives and those of future generations. Community discussions build self-confidence because they empower people to share their experiences and concerns.
(5) Students learn about democracy by experiencing it. The National Civic League, founded in 1894 by such leaders as Teddy Roosevelt, encourages civic participation. The group reported on a PB project in Arizona where schools used an online platform to collect ideas. The experience "mirrored [the] real-life voting process to prepare students for active civic life in adulthood." Dr. Carolina Johnson, an independent researcher, conducted a study for the Participatory Budgeting Project. She found that people who participate in PB are 7 percent more likely to vote in future elections.
(6) Learning about financial concepts such as creating a budget and managing money prepares students for adulthood. The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit independent news organization, describes the results of one project in New York. Students were given $2,000 to spend. Three projects were pitched by teams of students. One idea was to build a greenhouse garden that could provide fresh food. The second was to create a dance and music studio. The third was to install filters in all the water fountains. A large majority voted for the choice that also benefited the community as a whole: the greenhouse garden. One participating student said the process made her feel that her "voice actually does count."
(7) The PB process does not always include everyone, though. The system used by most schools involves first setting up a committee of students who are recommended by their teachers and elected by their peers. These students gain most of the benefits. They plan project options, research costs, and decide which ideas to offer as choices. But most students have only one part in that whole process: the final vote.
(8) There are other challenges too. Some people say the amount given for student projects isn't enough to make a difference. One student participating in the New York project found that $2,000 "seems like a lot" but didn't go very far. Students were considering building improvements "until they realized their money wouldn't stretch," says Bobby Thomatos, a government teacher leading the project.
(9) Participatory budgeting is also time-consuming. The planning process alone takes a full year, and some situations cause additional difficulties. If the vote results in a tie, one student asks, "Do we revote? Do we fund both projects? Should we do a runoff of the top two?" Students who are already busy may not have time for the responsibility PB requires. Additionally, some people say that giving everyone from students to administrators an equal vote devalues the education and experience of the adults traditionally responsible for creating school budgets.
(10) Time magazine reported in 2015 that students in Arizona presented PB projects ranging "from $157 for volleyball equipment to $1,000 to fund a music club, and from $217 for a school garden to $740 for shade umbrellas in the school courtyard." Ultimately, in three years 30,000 students voted on how $250,000 should be spent. They funded the winning projects above, building improvements, refillable water stations, and more. Did they spend the money wisely? One parent involved in a PB process at Walker Elementary in Virginia says, "We don't know what the students will come up with. It's a point of tension, but that's part of the process."
(11) Students should have a voice in their schools. They should be included as valued members of our society. Should they participate in planning how school money is spent? That is for each school to decide.