The Student Member of the Board is a 31-year-old appeasement for students. In 1977, the Maryland General Assembly created a nonvoting seat on the Board of Education, and a year later, David Naimon was elected as the first student member of the Montgomery County Board of Education. At this point, the election process mirrored that of the presidential election. Each school chose delegates who voted for the potential candidates. In 1982, the current process was introduced. A convention was held to narrow the field to two candidates. The candidates then campaigned and all students in middle and high school were allowed to vote. In 1989, Maryland’s General Assembly gave the student member a limited vote within the board.
    So here we are, in 2009, with a limited student member of the Board of Education. Every student is exceedingly familiar with the election process. But is there any real basis behind the whole operation?
    When the General Assembly gave “limited voting rights,” they meant it. The Student Member may not vote on “budget items, negative personnel matters, school closings/openings, and boundary changes,” according to the Montgomery County Public Schools website. Thus, the student has no voice on how tax dollars (which we pay too) are spent on education. The student has no voice on whether or not a teacher is fit to instruct. The student has no voice on which school students go to (though it affects the individual student the most). 
    The MCPS website, in its description of the role of the student member, states “the student member's job [is] to represent every county resident.” The student member’s responsibility is further described as a representative for “parents, community members and organizations, businesses, and the unions.” In essence, the student member must represent the entire community, without full voting rights.
    Our current student member, Tim Hwang, hopes to bring a new era for student representation. Mr. Hwang certainly has an impressive résumé. He founded and is currently the head of an international non-profit organization fighting poverty and homelessness. He worked for President Obama’s campaign. He has been involved in the county SGA since his freshman year. He has worked with the state SGA, the Democratic Party, the Maryland Youth Advisory Committee, and the list goes on.
    He is optimistic about the influence he can have on MCPS policy. “The Student Member is allowed to propose ideas and motions even on things they can't vote on like the budget. The Cell Phone Policy was a large issue that we managed to tackle this year,” Hwang states. The motion he is pursuing currently involves cell phone usage at lunch. A pilot program is supposedly being run at Blair High School to test the impact of such an allowance.
    In the meantime, Hwang has been hard at work, meeting with key politicians to ensure that budget cuts will not be made to education. He is also spearheading four initiatives within the board, including one related to the environment, one related to teacher evaluations by students, one related to the “AA” (or the double “A”) policy, and one in relation to the student’s right to vote on the board.
    This would be encouraging, if not for the history of the student member. “[I plan to] lift the vote exceptions placed on the current student member of the board” Christopher Lloyd, the winner of the 2000 election, stated as his plan in his “Voters Guide.” This is the oldest “Guide” available on the MCPS website, but it is doubtful that he was the first student member with that goal.
    Whether or not Tim Hwang will have an impact on anything of major import is up to debate. The history suggests he will not; his initial vigor provides hope. Will it be enough to break through the adult-dominated world of educational politics? Mr. Hwang thinks so. “Please stay tuned and watch what happens this year. The student body may be presently surprised.”