For schools to become safe and supportive learning environments where all students can learn and succeed, meaningful opportunities for students to (1) share with adults what they need in order to do well in school and (2) to participate meaningfully in decision making about their schools must be provided. Recently, TLPI convened a legislative briefing, Students Speak 2024: Humanizing Our School Communities to provide the opportunity for members of the Massachusetts Legislature to hear from secondary students from across the Commonwealth about what they need in order to do well in school and why the current moment presents a critical time to support funding for the Safe and Supportive Schools line item.
Mentored by graduate students in TLPI’s Education Law Clinic through the Students Speak Initiative, the young people prepared and delivered testimonial statements about their school experiences. Students’ testimony focused on both the moments when they do best in school, characterized by the experience of feeling seen and heard by the adults around them and by moments where they struggled, characterized by the experience of times when they feel less than or when their full humanity was not recognized by the adults around them. Students emphasized the critical importance of including student voice in addressing ongoing challenges in schools including student and staff wellness concerns, learning loss, and more.
Audience members also had the opportunity to hear from young people and a district leader who have engaged in work to elevate student voice as a Safe and Supportive Schools grantee school funded through the line item. This school district used the resources provided through the grant funding to prioritize creating a school culture where students’ voices are listened to.
To view a recording of the legislative briefing, please click here.
We are grateful to the high school students for their brave and powerful testimony and to the legislative co-sponsors of this event, longtime Safe and Supportive Schools Champions, Sen. Sal DiDomenico and Representative Ruth Balser, and co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Education, Sen. Jason Lewis and Representative Denise Garlick.