I was crushed to hear that the Page Program was canceled. It's end is a sad day for the House of Reps. The following is a piece I wrote expressing my thoughts, sharing my experience, and giving some alternatives to this bad decision. I've already sent around some shorter versions, trying to get the word out. If you're a former page, or have heard about and believe in the program, please share.
I was a page in 2006-2007, fall and spring for Rep. Nadler (D-NY)
Boehner and Pelosi Ends the House Page Program
Today House Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi jointly announced to end the House Page program after 175 years of operation. To the hundreds of page alumni over the years this is a deeply disappointing and avoidable decision. We are disappointed not at the end of the program, but in the fashion in which the decision was made.
I fear that in cutting the program and citing the costs, Pelosi and Boehner - in a fashion sadly typical these days - have failed to see the expenditure as an investment. The hundreds of successful, engaged page alumni ranging from Bill Gates to Rep. John Dingell and the many other sitting and former members of Congress would surely be found to be a high return on America’s investment. Broadly, the page program is proven successful at engaging American youth in public service for life. Many go on to serve in some capacity, and even those who don’t go on to be better voters and live civically educated lives – no small feat.
To speak briefly on my experience, the page program opened my mind to the world. It challenged me at a young age to take ownership of the issues of our time. I no longer could read the news passively. I can still rattle off the tidbits of wisdom our nation’s leaders shared with us. At 16 I felt I had a far more nuanced view of government than many far older and more experienced. I saw Members of Congress who honorably served every day, working ethically and diligently – people I would happily model myself after. Likewise I saw men and women I knew I didn’t want to become, both influences were equally beneficial. Further, my fellow pages formed perhaps the biggest part of my education. Night after night we stayed up late, debating, discussing and learning from one another. It was in that year I shaped many of my convictions, and at the same time learned how to change them. The page school also made a positive impact. Never before did I feel intellectually engaged like I did in page school, at 16 I was excited about assignments and issues for the sake of the process, not just to finish and get out of class. I started to figure out that year what I was academically curious about, what made me tick, and where my skills might lie. The teachers were professionals of the highest standard (which the articles today, quoting prices, ignored). They cared about the pages and where we ended up, and years later this continues to be true.
I went from being a page my junior year to going to a United World College in Hong Kong, living and working with students from around the country under unusual circumstances flowed naturally to living and learning with students from around the world. My inside knowledge of government and politics meant that I was able to better wrap my head around other cultures, foreign national narratives and circumstances; compare them to our own and make connections on a universal level. I’m now a student at Princeton University planning a career in national and international service and I can say with the utmost honesty that without the page program I would be nowhere close to where I am now. I take seriously the huge investment of American tax dollars that was made in me and I know my fellow pages do too.
Obviously not all former pages feel the way I do. There are some who didn’t get nearly the same as I got out of the program and wouldn’t give it much credit for where they ended up. This is inherent in any youth program. As for scandals, I would like a list of Members of Congress who feel that rather than throw out colleagues who lack the basic decency required to be in a room with a 16 year old and behave, we should throw out the 16 year olds.
In the past scandal was used as a reason to end the program, but today cost was cited. The method of announcing today’s decision, blaming costs, was deeply frustrating. There were multiple options Pelosi and Boehner could have chosen. They could have downsized the program or inform the Page board (specially set up for such purposes) that the program was at risk who would have in turn notified the alumni group. Rather than consult, Pelosi and Boehner took the high handed approach of simply abolishing a time honored, successful program. Pages have already left for the summer, presumable there are 16 year olds out there who thought they were coming in the fall, or have the chance to apply. But of course, when the special interest group is 16, can’t vote and don’t have much money, there’s not too much risk in angering them.
The program is very expensive by any measure and was, in my opinion, overdue for an overhaul. Pages are paid a fairly high salary for the work. This is meant to make the experience affordable despite the fact that almost all of the program’s costs are covered. Removing the salary and replacing it with a modest living stipend would save money. Pages are also appointed on a partisan basis and are managed separately based on affiliation. The majority (usually) gets 2/3 of the 72 slots. This means twice the staff for supervision. Pages should be nonpartisan and require one supervisor. To further mitigate the costs, alumni and other private individuals should be contacted for donations. I won’t name too many notable alumni (except Bill Gates) but we know that it numbers thousands of successful individuals and setting up an endowment like system should be possible. To address the technology and efficiency issue, the work can and should be changed to make the experience rewarding for the pages and beneficial to the House. There’s no shortage of work to be done in the Capitol. We have options. There are ways to continue the program in a sensible fashion but instead of exploring these options, our leaders abandoned a good program, further removed America’s youth from the political process and left part of the Capitol’s history behind.
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