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Other student representatives are mild and modest, like Maureen Massivver, 18, who was elected to the school committee in Pawtucket, R.I., last November. She describes herself as a "moderate liberal," and her low-key program includes upgrading Pawtucket high schools by allowing bright students to take such subjects as psychology and philosophy. She also recognizes that with budgetary problems and new teachers' contracts to settle, some of her ideas may have to wait. "Government isn't a zippy thing," she says.
"It's a slow process." Agrees John Scott Francis, 18, newly elected school board member in Reynoldsburg, Ohio: "I'm not about to go in and tear things apart. Our school isn't all that bad. In fact, it's halfway decent."
Cutting Costs. Further to the right stands William Lynch, 18, a self-proclaimed "progressive conservative," who defeated the 60-year-old school board chairman in Bremerton, Wash., in a primary held last September. Lynch, clean shaven and neatly barbered, picked up many adult votes in that race and also in the general election by promising to hold down school taxes, back up teachers on discipline, and use undercover agents in schools to help control drugs. He has stuck to at least one of those campaign promises: he voted against a proposal to give teachers a pay increase that would mean higher taxes.
The young board members often start out with ambitious ideas—that is one advantage of their arrival on the boards—but time and experience inevitably mellow even the most aggressive of the newcomers. Even Larry Hamm. When Board Member Cervase obtained a temporary court injunction last December restraining Newark schools from flying Black Power flags, Hamm took it calmly. Said he: "If the courts don't take care of it, the legislature will." Either way, Hamm says he will obey the law.