Cambridge resident Guy Stuart serves as treasurer of his son's nursery school program. He is eager to volunteer in the classroom. He regularly attends school committee meetings.
But because Stuart is not a U.S. citizen, he is prohibited from voting in school committee elections and helping to choose the people who make the policies about his son's education.
So just last week, Stuart joined 60 other parents and activists at a city council hearing on extending the right to vote in school committee elections to all parents--not just those who are citizens. Many parents who would be affected by this law are immigrants who have not yet gone through naturalization.
At the hearing, while his two children whined and clung to his legs, Stuart argued his case to the city council government ordinance committee.
"When I come to the public schools, I find myself excluded," he says. "I cannot vote or really have any say in the running of my child's school."
The Background
Initiated in the early 1990's, the proposal lost momentum when the battle over rent control took center stage.
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