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thedrifter
02-14-03, 06:56 AM
February 12, 2003 23:05

Despite New Law, Opponents Still Resist Recruiters

By Matthew Dodd

Despite a new federal law providing military recruiters with access to public high school student records, a disturbing number of anti-military activists and bureaucrats are still fighting a read-guard action against the measure.

"[High school] students have a right to keep their personal information private and not be bothered by aggressive military recruiters," complained Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. Unfortunately, Lieberman is joined by a disturbing number of other parents, individuals and public education officials who are upset about a provision in the 2001 Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which is more commonly known as the No Child Left Behind Act.

They are concerned about the provision's wording that "each local educational agency receiving assistance under the General Education Provisions Act [federal education funding] shall provide military recruiters the same access to secondary school students as is provided generally to post-secondary educational institutions or to prospective employers of those students."

It seems that these parents, individuals and public education officials prefer the "good ol' days" when military recruiters were denied access to high school campuses and student contact data.

This short provision is long on common sense and fairly straightforward in its language:

"Each local educational agency receiving assistance under the General Education Provisions Act [federal funds] shall provide, on a request made by military recruiters or an institution of higher education, access to secondary school students names, addresses and telephone listings. A secondary school student or the parent of the student may request that the student's name, address, and telephone listing not be released without prior written parental consent, and the local educational agency or private school shall notify parents of the option to make a request and shall comply with any request .…The requirements of this section do not apply to a private secondary school that maintains a religious objection to service in the Armed Forces if the objection is verifiable through the corporate or other organizational documents or materials of that school."

How bad were those "good ol' days" for military recruiters? According to reports, military recruiters were denied access to as many as 19,228 U.S. schools as recently as 1999. How effective has this new provision been for military recruiters? According to Pentagon data from January 2003, only six public high schools are still denying recruiters access to their campuses.

Now you know what the provision said, and the changes it has made in giving high school students and military recruiters equal access to each other. Let's examine some of the objections to the spirit of the provision as reported in newspapers and websites across the country and put things in perspective.

Jill Wynns, President of the San Francisco Board of Education, said she would "like to send the bill to the congressman" who wrote the provision for the cost of sending out the letters informing parents about the option to request their children's contact data not be released. "It's expensive to send out the letters, and it will be expensive to develop a system to separate out those whose names and addresses we can give out to the military and those we can't. It's not like we have a lot of spare money." The San Francisco board's vice president, Eric Marr, added, "We want money for books and schools, not bombs."

"It's heavy-handed, there's no question about it," said Shirley Thompson, president of the Rochester, N.Y., Board of Education. Thompson is pushing the board to invite others with "differing views" about the military to high schools to show students that many believe the current ban on gays "is not consistent with our country's value system."

"I think it's setting them up for the draft," said one parent from Hemet, Cal. Temecula Valley school board President Stewart Morris called the plan "onerous" but said the district would comply. Rick Jahnkow of the San Diego-based Project on Youth and Non-Military Opportunities said the law "allows the military to override the local school districts' control over what type of information it's releasing." Jahnkow worries recruiters will call youngsters when their parents aren't around and "try to apply very sophisticated, aggressive sales tactics," he said.

So far, the most anti-military objector to this recruiter access provision that I have been able to find is Ms. Leah C. Wells, the Peace Education Coordinator for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. In an article for CommonDreams.com on Dec. 6, 2002, "No Child Left Alone By Military Recruiters," Ms. Wells articulated her blatant distrust of and contempt for the military:

"The No Child Left Behind act paves the way for the military to have unimpeded access to underage students who are ripe for solicitation for the military .… Too many students are lulled by the siren songs of military service cooing promises of funding for higher education .… Is the goal of education to provide a fertile field of students ripe for the picking by the military which will send them to the front lines of battle, potentially never to return? … Students are continually guilted into shouldering the burden of responsibility when they do not succeed in school and all too often accept as inevitable their fate of being sucked into military service. The Leave No Child Behind Act is a wake up call to students to reclaim their privacy, to reinvest their energy into demanding quality education and to remind their leaders that stealing money from education to pay for military is unacceptable."

I hope I am not naïve in believing that the majority of American citizens regard service in our armed forces as honorable and worthy of respect. After reviewing a wide varierty of articles on the subject, I am angry about how blatantly one-sided the news media coverage has been.

As a career military officer, I have served with and have many friends who were military recruiters. All those negative reactions and perspectives about the actions, intentions, and consequences of recruiters interacting with high school students do a great disservice to the dedication and professionalism of those men and women who work incredibly long hours in one of the most demanding and important of all peacetime military jobs.

It took me a long time to find it, but buried inside one Akron (OH) Beacon Journal article on Jan. 30, 2003, were some nuggets of reason and wisdom from a couple of college-bound high school seniors. Of his contact with recruiters, Jason Jones said, "I thought it was good. It gives people an opportunity to choose." Jones' friend, Berle Bowen, who heads to National Guard basic training in June, said that he is glad he heard about the military because it will pay for his college education. "Everybody should be thinking about defending their country - and everyone should have the right to learn about the military," he said.

Isn't it ironic that a couple of high school students, whose lives are supposedly being jeopardized through their contact with military recruiters, have much to teach the news media-glorified vocal minority of misguided parents, individuals and public education officials who fail to understand the spirit of the law's recruiter access provision?

Lt. Col. Matthew Dodd USMC is a Senior Editor of DefenseWatch. He can be reached at mattdodd1775@hotmail.com.

Sempers,

Roger

wrbones
02-14-03, 07:39 AM
So basically the liberals are saying that service members and Veterans are second class citizens.

I would have never known that....

USMC-FO
02-14-03, 08:22 AM
This is hardly surprising. I suspect many in this anti military cabal would also deny access to our rights under the second amendment, permit Saddam to hold on his WMD's etc. and scream for help if something goes wrong. I suspect they are mostly white, middle class and privaliged. Many are our neighbors. Makes life interesting doesn't it ??

lurchenstein
02-15-03, 03:12 PM
"I think it's setting them up for the draft," said one parent from Hemet, Cal.
Nothing like a "well informed" parent. Guess they didn't know the 18 year olds are obliged to register.
Overall, the let-somebody-else do it mentality p***es me off & ...
Semper Fi & Thank You to all of you that served.:marine:

eddief
02-16-03, 08:39 PM
High school students should have every option open to them,and
that includes military service. Kids are'nt being forced to join the
military. These people that are against military recruters don't
give these young men and women any credit. They're basically
saying that they can't make an intelligent decision.

JChristin
02-17-03, 01:14 AM
Those who are against military recruters in the high schools would be the first to scream, "where's the military" in the event our country is attacked (again).

Several months ago, while attending a social function, a man who has always had it out for me (he's old school and doesn't like successful business women - we are a threat to his old school vision on the "proper" lady - especially being a woman Marine) asked me what I thought about his very subject. I knew it was a mine field I was walking into, with this jerk.

I explained that I thought a student desiring to pay her or his way through college, even when mom and dad can afford it, should be given avenues in which to explore all the options available. If joining the military was an option to help pay for school, then it should be extended and provided. Afterall, after my high school sweetheart and I divorced, the military was an option for me and I took it. All it did was better my life.

He of course, jumped on that. Now, personal attacks I can handle, as a few of you already know. I can stand on my own and not bat an eyelash. But once this a$$hole jerk brought my beloved Corps into his teeth grinding $hit swollen mouth, that is when I walked him back up against a wall, my nose no more than one inch from his, my eyes gazing steady into his, while lushious spit parted my sweet righteous lips while I spoke. Told him he crossed the line. He should of know well-enough to leave my beloved Corps out of it. But he made a sad and unfortunate mistake. His eyes got sooooo BIG.

At that moment, a moment of clarity entered my thoughts. Being in my profession, I didn't need a brother law enforcement officer called to this situation. Wouldn't look good. Guess that jerk started to experience a rapid spiritual experience too. He profusley said he was sorry, over and over again. Just the other day, he mentioned to me that he has thought it over and now thinks that students should be given the right to explore ALL their options. And, he added, he respects the United States Marine Corps. Goes to show, even "old school" can change.

semper fi
jchristin