Policy Order O-8

WHEREAS: Parents' involvement in their children’s education is critical to student academic achievement and

WHEREAS: Immigrant families have educational concerns regarding language and culture; and

WHEREAS: Policies related to diversity and English language learning programs, among other educational policies, are the purview of the Cambridge School Committee and

WHEREAS: Immigrant families constitute a sizable percentage of working families in the City of Cambridge and

WHEREAS: Residents of the City of Cambridge, regardless of their citizenship status, complete an annual City Census which is the basis for determining the local voting rolls, and

WHEREAS: The Campaign for Immigrant Voting Rights garnered majority support from the Cambridge School Committee and the Cambridge City Council in the year 2000 and additional support for school principals and parents’ councils and

WHEREAS: The Campaign for Immigrant Voting Rights filed a home-rule petition two years ago that will allow non-citizens in the city of Cambridge to vote in School Committee elections; and

WHEREAS: Five municipalities in the state of Maryland have extended the rights to vote for local offices to non-citizens; the cities of Chicago and New York to non-citizen voting in school board elections, and various European cities, such as Dublin, also permit non-citizen voting and

WHEREAS: The cities of Chelsea, Somerville and Amherst are also pursuing home-rule petitions granting resident non-citizens the right to vote; now therefore be it

RESOLVED: That the Cambridge City of Council go on record petitioning the Commonwealth of Massachusetts General Court to enact the following home rule petition entitled An Act Enabling Certain Non-Citizen Residents Of Cambridge To Vote In School Committee And City Council Elections.