The U.S. Census Bureau kicked off a national schools campaign Dec. 10 at King College Preparatory High School on the South Side to get more students involved in the upcoming census.
The U.S. Census Bureau kicked off a national schools campaign Dec. 10 at King College Preparatory High School on the South Side to get more students involved in the upcoming census.
Stanley Moore, regional director for the U.S. Census Bureau, Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th), and other city, community and civic leaders, joined Mayor Richard M. Daley as he expressed the importance of students’ involvement.
“The Census in Schools program represents a great way to engage our young people in spreading the word about the census and making sure that every Chicago resident understands why they should participate in it,” Daley said. “When you, the taxpayer, do not participate in the census, you are cheating yourself out of services you deserve.”
Preckwinkle, whose ward includes King high school, agreed.
“The census in schools is very important because if a parent is unable to complete the census form a student could fill it out since there are only 10 questions,” she told the Defender. “And by involving students in the census it also shows them how the census directly affects school funding and other community needs.”
Shemiah Curry, 16, a junior at King high school, said not only should students actively participate and volunteer for the census but they should encourage others to do the same.
“We have a responsibility as students to make sure that everyone participates in the census because the results from the census will affect our future,” Curry said. “As King students we are taught to be future leaders. So getting involved in something that will help shape our future is the first step in showing leadership.”
Since its inception in 1790 when the first census was taken in the United States the data has been used to determine a wide range of funding needs, said Moore.
“But one of the main things the census is used for is redistricting. It helps determine the number congressmen needed in the U.S. House of Representatives,” he added.
The first census taken in Illinois was in 1820 and in Chicago it was 1840, according to Rebecca Blank, undersecretary for Economic Affairs with the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The goal, said Blank, is to have the Census in Schools program reach 56 million school age students in 118,000 schools nationally.
Moore said the census would also count other population groups, including infants, ex-offenders, the homeless, undocumented immigrants, and the prison population.
Census forms will be mailed out to households beginning in March. For more information about the Census in Schools program, visit their Web site at www.census.gov/schools or call 311, the city’s non-emergency hotline.
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