As Student Council elections come to an end, the school prepares for new leaders at the start of next school year. Hopefully, students have made the right decision on their newly elected candidates. Not only do students run Student Council (hence “Student” council), they also elect their leaders; teachers do not have the power to vote.

   Though teachers cannot vote at LHS, some schools in the district allow teachers to vote, such as Southwest Junior High School. Teachers having the power to vote introduces many positives, but also many negatives.

   First of all, the name. “Student Council” has the word student in it, not teacher. Students run StuCo (with limited input from the sponsor, David Platt). Teachers should not vote for StuCo candidates because they are not directly affected by the decisions of the Student Council. The students are.

   Because students are the only ones allowed to vote, they gain experience. While students practice voting at LHS, it prepares them for voting in the “real world.” This process gives experience not only to student voters, but student candidates, too.

   Students should be the only ones with influence because they know their peers best. Since students know their peers, they know their habits, likes and dislikes. They also know what they are good at or would be good at. Many interact with candidates everyday, much more than teachers do. On the other hand, there would be benefits if teachers were allowed to vote.

   Though StuCo is not supposed to be a popularity contest, most of the time it is. A lot of these popular students also show excellent work in regard to their student council duties, but  in some instances, students just are not cut out for the job. Teachers may see this and help prevent those student from being elected. Teachers could help this become less of a popularity contest.  

   Because of their experience, teachers could also be good judges of character. They have all been through high school; they know what to expect and have been there, done that. Teachers know what to do.

   Though no voting process is picture perfect, Lawrence High Student Council has a great way of doing it. Students vote for their representatives. Not everything will go smoothly, but that is how people learn. Mistakes make for great experiences. If a student is not happy with candidates or outcomes: run for a position! If a student does not have the desire to do so, make sure to do one thing: make the right decision.