Now on to education.

Kentucky students want a say in the state's education system.

Three different bills in the Kentucky General Assembly would add student members to school boards, higher education boards of trustees and the Kentucky Board of Education.

Last week, the Kentucky student voice team was in Frankfurt, pushing the legislature to consider the bills that would give students a say in education policy.

Our Casey Parker battles spoke to two members of the student voice team about measures and how they would impact education across the Commonwealth.

Solely on another a handful of bills.

Talking about giving students more representation on boards, giving students voice.

So why is it important for students to have this voice?

It's very important.

Students are the primary stakeholders in our education system, and we directly experience a lot of, you know, legislation surrounding education.

We we are the ones who experience and learn from that in the classroom.

And therefore, we should have a say when it comes to education policy and decision making, because, you know, at the end of the day, this the system is to serve students and it's to better everybody.

Student body.

What would it mean for students to have that voice?

Representative Timoney, who's one of the co-sponsors of House Bill 161, said, You're not going to make an agriculture board without a farmer.

You're not going to make a police board without a police officer.

And so, you know, solely on image, since students are the primary stakeholders of our education, it's critical that we're in the rooms when education policy decisions are being made.

So you have experience on the board was first one in Kentucky.

What type of conversations did that lead to and how did it change the conversations the board was having?

It led to very important conversations.

You know, I was able to express concerns whether relating to students and students and the aides and, you know, board members would, you know, adjust the conversation accordingly.

And, you know, we would have very just empathetic and understanding talks in the boardroom.

And, you know, I can confidently say that whether something I had to bring up or what this current student board member Jude had to brought up directly changed the outlook of most board members, which then turns into policy.

And so those conversation are very important.

And there are a lot of topics that perhaps students want to lend voice to that aren't getting heard right now.

What types of things do you think students have Perspective on and are curious about that might not being talked to, might not be talked about by adults right now?

Well, there are a lot of issues that are being talked about by adults right now that you still need students in the conversation, like we're seeing a lot of anti LGBTQ legislation being brought up.

And it's so important that we have students who are in positions of power who are able to speak on those issues so their opinions can be considered and education policy decisions.

You know, a survey that student voice did show that over half of school districts were open to having students, prospective students on boards, But of course, not many of them do.

How do you think that you all can push people to include student voices on the different boards?

It's really just telling them that this opportunity exists like my superintendent actually filled out that survey and I was looking through his responses and really he just had a lot of questions about having a student board member on the position, like the legality of it.

And it is legal.

Students can be on that student board member.

It's just not required at the moment.

And so by showing these superintendents and school board members that this possibility exists and that students can serve on these positions and that we're capable of serving on these positions, then I think they are going to be a lot more inclined to include us at the table.

House Bill 136 would add additional voting student members to higher education boards or trustees.

House Bill 161 would add non-voting student members to every school board, and Senate Bill 22 would give voting rights to the student member on the Kentucky Board of Education.

All three bills have yet to be heard by a committee.