Participatory Budgeting
New York State Education Department
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Overview
On an annual basis, all Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI)
schools will be required to implement a Participatory Budgeting Process for the
school year OR provide opportunities for parent and student engagement in a
manner prescribed by the Commissioner of Education.
Purpose
This guidebook is designed to outline expectations and support schools in
establishing and implementing the Participatory Budgeting model.
Participatory Budgeting Expectations
Schools pursuing this model must adhere to certain parameters.
Participatory Budgeting Process
Participatory Budgeting follows a defined model with multiple steps. Schools
must follow each of these steps:
•
First, the school identifies the amount of money to be set aside for PB.
•
Next, parents, students, and teachers brainstorm ideas and develop
proposals on how they money may be spent to improve the school.
•
Then, a Steering Committee reviews the proposals and identifies the final
proposals that will appear on the school ballot.
•
Finally, the student body and the parents of the school vote on the
proposals. The proposal(s) with the most votes are funded.
Site-based Organization of Participatory Budgeting
Schools must also ensure that certain aspects of the process are in place:
•
Each school must have a site coordinator and a steering committee that
will solicit proposals, vet proposals for feasibility and cost, and organize
voting.
•
Each school must be as inclusive as possible with its voting process.
Participatory Budgeting is designed to support direct democracy, so that all
eligible voters have a say in the final results.
•
Each school must be willing to dedicate at least $2,000 toward the
proposal(s) that generate the most votes.
New York State Education Department
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What is Participatory Budgeting?
Participatory Budgeting (PB) is a democratic process in which community
members decide how to spend part of a public budget. The process is intended
to strengthen public input and deepen public engagement in the civic
organizations designed to service the public.
Often decision-making rests in the hands of leaders identified to represent their
constituencies. The PB model supports direct democracy, allowing parents and
students to vote for the projects to be funded. PB allows schools to engage
students, parents, teachers, and community members in choosing a school
program or improvement to fund.
The process builds understanding of stakeholder perspectives, directs funds to
pressing needs and innovative ideas, and helps students and other community
members learn democracy and active citizenship.
Benefits of Participatory Budgeting Model
o
Strengthens stakeholder input and deepens school community
engagement by supporting direct democracy
o
Develops student leadership, civic engagement, and confidence in ability
to effect change
o
Increases students’ sense of social responsibility
o
Imparts critical career and life skills including problem solving, research,
surveying, and financial education
Implementing Participatory Budgeting
Step 1: Design the Process
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Identify a Site Coordinator
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Set up a steering committee
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Identify the amount money to be reserved for Participatory Budgeting
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Identify rules, engagement plan, and timeline
Step 2: Idea Collection
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Parents, students, and teachers brainstorm ideas and develop proposals
on how funds may be spent to improve the school
Step 3: Proposal Development
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The steering committee reviews proposals and determines if they are
feasible as written, or if they could become feasible with slight modification.
New York State Education Department
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•
The steering committee narrows the list of proposals, ensuring that only
those proposals that are can be implemented appear on the final ballot.
Step 4: Vote
•
Final proposals are presented in a manner that allows students and
parents to identify the proposals are their favorite.
•
Students and parents vote on the final proposals.
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The steering committee reviews the voting results and identifies the
proposals with the most votes.
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The school announces the results.
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The school funds the proposals with the most results.
Choosing a Site Coordinator
Every school offering Participatory Budgeting must have a Site Coordinator to
oversee the process. This person should be knowledgeable about Participatory
Budgeting and enthusiastic about extending the opportunity to students and
parents to determine how certain funds can be spent.
•
Ideal coordinators include administrative interns, Civics teachers, after-
school coordinators and parent volunteers
For More Information
Participatory Budgeting can be incorporated into the curriculum in multiple
subjects and in multiple grades. Participating schools are encouraged to look for
ways to link the school’s Participatory Budgeting process to the curriculum and
explore the various resources that exist online for Participatory Budgeting.
