Every four years in November a new group of young people have to choose between two main candidates whose ideas differ on secondary and collegiate education. This year their choices are George W. Bush and the presumed Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry (MA).

The outcome of the coming election will be impacted by young people’s perceptions of both candidate’s policies and promises. The candidates face pressure from youth on issues like current cutbacks on schools and sex education among teen-agers.

“College education is important because you are choosing to be there, while going to high school is required,” said Danielle Francois, a freshman at SF State who supports Kerry.

Young people across the country have the potential power to impact the election, said Mark Lopez, a professor of Economics at the University of Maryland, according to an interview with the US Department of State.

According to Lopez, young voters represent about 18-20 million votes depending on their age. While about 20 million young voters turned out in the 1992 election, that number has decreased to 18 million youth votes in 2000. Although it has dropped, it remains a huge voting block, and education is a big concern.

The 2003 College Board reports that the strained state budgets nationwide have led to severe cutbacks and that more schools are now primarily relying on tuitions and fees.

Teens 4 Kerry reports that “the cost to attend a public four-year college or university has increased by 10 percent over the past two years and the cost to attend a public two-year college has increased by 8 percent over the same period.”

Bush’s educational policy has revolved around the No Child Left Behind Act, which has increased funding to schools that improved their test scores, according www.georgewbush.com. A 2003 academic study conducted by Phi
Delta Kappa, an association of educators, reports that an additional $84-$148 billion dollars are still needed to implement the goals of the act.

Leigh Auleb, a retired biology professor at SF State, said that Kerry would be better at handling educational issues.

“Bush talked and said that he’s going to do things, but he doesn’t come through,” Auleb said.

However, Carlos Zepeda, a member of the College Republicans at SF State, blamed the current crisis in education on former Gov. Gray Davis, who spent a lot of money on California’s energy crisis, which now makes it harder for the state legislature to troubleshoot the problem.

Zepeda also said that Bush would be more effective in handling issues with education due to his experiences, while Kerry is more of a ‘wishy-washy’ candidate.

Aside from general education, there are other youth issues that both of the candidates face. According to Advocates for Youth, Bush has promised to increase federal funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.

In the same time, Congress assigned $300 million since 1996 to fund abstinence programs that “exclude information about condoms and contraceptives for the prevention of teen pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, and other STDs,” Advocates for Youth said.

The nature of sex education among teenagers would affect the “social fabric,” because “people end up making decisions that cost more money,” Arthur Lichtman, a senior in hospitality management, said.“To say that the solution is strictly abstinence without education is burying your head in the sand,” he said.

However, Carlos Zepeda said that abstinence should be the number one method to stop teenage pregnancy.

BAMMA is a summer journalism camp for high school students coordinated by the Center for Integration and Improvement of Journalism through the journalism department at SF State. For more information or comments on BAMMA, please contact Cristina Azocar.