GyG1345
03-12-03, 03:10 PM
FOXNEWS.COM
Schools Ask Parents to Hide Kids From Military Recruiters
Tuesday, March 11, 2003
SAN FRANCISCO — Two school districts in California have encouraged families to adopt a "don't tell" policy with their children to avoid a federal law that requires schools to notify military recruiters about students reaching enlistment age.
Administrators say they are just making parents aware of a provision in the law that allows them to opt out of having private information handed over to the military.
But critics say the schools involved are acting shamefully by dodging the spirit if not the letter of the law. Because America’s armed forces are all volunteer, supporters of the law say the military must have valid contact information for prospective recruits.
An amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act requires public high schools to give military recruiters the names and phone numbers of juniors and seniors — unless their parents say no. If school officials don’t provide the information, they risk losing millions of federal dollars.
But the San Francisco and Los Angeles school districts are engaged in an active campaign to let parents know they have the right to decline.
"We are complying with the law, but we are also making clear to our parents that … they have the opportunity to opt out of it, to choose not to have private information provided to the military," said Jill Wynns, a San Francisco Board of Education commissioner.
Hugh Hewitt, a syndicated talk radio show host, thinks such actions are deplorable.
"San Francisco has decided to feel good about their own anti-war bias," he said. "They’re going to try to impede the military’s access to the students and spend scarce dollars doing so. That is a shameful sacrificing of the students’ best interest to serve their own political end."
The amendment to the law was added about a year ago because public schools across the country were restricting military access to their students — refusing to provide recruiters with contact information and prohibiting or limiting on-campus military visits.
Defense Department statistics from July 2001 showed that 31 percent of public schools were denying the military access to two or more of their recruiting services.
So the law was tweaked. But now schools are finding other ways to keep the military out of their hallways and away from their kids.
Despite tight education budgets, San Francisco and Los Angeles are spending thousands on letters to students and parents, making it easy to keep names off recruiters’ lists. Some schools in New York and Oregon are trying to do the same.
"Most parents are stunned that the federal government would require private information about children to be given to anybody whose job is to go after them," Wynns said. "We really don’t want them to do that."
Hewitt said such districts should be punished for violating the intent of the law.
"I hope the federal government comes along and does exactly what it said it would do, which is cut off their federal funds," he said.
Fox News’ Claudia Cowan and Catherine Donaldson-Evans contributed to this report.
© Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2003 Standard & Poor's
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright 2003 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved.
All market data delayed 20 minutes.
Schools Ask Parents to Hide Kids From Military Recruiters
Tuesday, March 11, 2003
SAN FRANCISCO — Two school districts in California have encouraged families to adopt a "don't tell" policy with their children to avoid a federal law that requires schools to notify military recruiters about students reaching enlistment age.
Administrators say they are just making parents aware of a provision in the law that allows them to opt out of having private information handed over to the military.
But critics say the schools involved are acting shamefully by dodging the spirit if not the letter of the law. Because America’s armed forces are all volunteer, supporters of the law say the military must have valid contact information for prospective recruits.
An amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act requires public high schools to give military recruiters the names and phone numbers of juniors and seniors — unless their parents say no. If school officials don’t provide the information, they risk losing millions of federal dollars.
But the San Francisco and Los Angeles school districts are engaged in an active campaign to let parents know they have the right to decline.
"We are complying with the law, but we are also making clear to our parents that … they have the opportunity to opt out of it, to choose not to have private information provided to the military," said Jill Wynns, a San Francisco Board of Education commissioner.
Hugh Hewitt, a syndicated talk radio show host, thinks such actions are deplorable.
"San Francisco has decided to feel good about their own anti-war bias," he said. "They’re going to try to impede the military’s access to the students and spend scarce dollars doing so. That is a shameful sacrificing of the students’ best interest to serve their own political end."
The amendment to the law was added about a year ago because public schools across the country were restricting military access to their students — refusing to provide recruiters with contact information and prohibiting or limiting on-campus military visits.
Defense Department statistics from July 2001 showed that 31 percent of public schools were denying the military access to two or more of their recruiting services.
So the law was tweaked. But now schools are finding other ways to keep the military out of their hallways and away from their kids.
Despite tight education budgets, San Francisco and Los Angeles are spending thousands on letters to students and parents, making it easy to keep names off recruiters’ lists. Some schools in New York and Oregon are trying to do the same.
"Most parents are stunned that the federal government would require private information about children to be given to anybody whose job is to go after them," Wynns said. "We really don’t want them to do that."
Hewitt said such districts should be punished for violating the intent of the law.
"I hope the federal government comes along and does exactly what it said it would do, which is cut off their federal funds," he said.
Fox News’ Claudia Cowan and Catherine Donaldson-Evans contributed to this report.
© Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2003 Standard & Poor's
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright 2003 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved.
All market data delayed 20 minutes.