Charlotte Schwarte is a Page Editor of the Dispatch Newspaper at James Bowie High School in Austin, Texas.

“I believe it is necessary to pass a New Voices law in Texas because although my school is not under current journalistic censorship, it is through the constant communication between our newspaper and advisor/principal that we have achieved this. I hope that this sort of collaboration can be put into practice all around Texas and for students to be able to produce newspapers and yearbooks to the best of their ability with no hindrances.”

What I Do

As the South/Central Texas Regional Organizer of New Voices Texas, my job is to promote New Voices’ message for the discontinuing of student censorship in high school newspapers. I will connect with students, advisors, and legislators across my region to bring further support to the cause.

I will measure success as an officer by how the New Voices bill fares in the legislative session, by the number of supporters I can bring to New Voices, and by having more schools achieve censorship-free newspapers through collaboration between students and advisors.

By the end of the school year, I want to accomplish organizing a larger community that is actively working with New Voices, and for a New Voices law on the way to being passed and implemented. so that we may begin the following school year (2023-24) with a step ahead, looking towards the legislative session.