Posted on 08/24/2005 8:24:02 PM PDT by Former Military Chick
CANTON — High schools are providing student information to military recruiters and the only way parents can opt out is by removing their children from directory information that colleges and scholarship programs also use.
A provision in the No Child Left Behind Act requires that, on request, high schools turn over students’ names, addresses and telephone listings to military recruiters. Opponents of the requirement say most parents don’t know the access is given to recruiters and are unaware they can opt out.
“Most people are very surprised that this statement is in NCLB, and many more are mad that they haven’t heard from their high school in any shape or form,” said Stephanie Studebaker, communications director of the advocacy group Wake Up Ohio.
“Wake Up Ohio is engaged in this to let people know this provision is hiding in the act,” Studebaker said.
The group hopes to air a radio ad in the Canton-Akron market before the school year starts. It encourages parents to ask principals and superintendents for information regarding their schools’ policies.
“We have to follow the law,” Kim Redmond, principal of Timken High School, said. “If we’re requested information from the military, we give it.”
She explained that it’s possible for parents to opt out of the requirement, but since a form to do so is “buried among the mountain of paperwork they have to do” at the start of the school year, most do not even see it.
In many cases the opt-out is all or nothing. If Canton City School District parents decide to not release their children’s directory information to the military, it’s also withheld from colleges and scholarship programs. In other districts — Alliance, for example — schools allow parents to decide to prevent only the military from obtaining their children’s information.
“We work really well with our recruiter, and he does a lot of good things for the community,” Rob Gress, principal of Alliance High School, said. “We want students to be informed of the military option.”
Timken’s Redmond said that the school has established a process that gives military recruiters access to students while maintaining the focus of the school on education.
“It’s my personal bent that school is school. We have a captive audience here, but this shouldn’t be the audience they use to access kids,” said Redmond, noting that the Army does not accept students without a high school diploma anyway.
“Primarily we get our names from the NCLB act,” said the Akron-Canton Recruiting Company commander Capt. Jennifer Smith-Heys, whose district covers 68 area high schools and 12 colleges.
“Most schools are supportive and they understand the NCLB,” she said. She noted that lists of students are only one way the Army recruits. Occasionally, recruiters set up a table in the lunch room, go to career days, talk to PTAs and PTOs, “so that they can help their children make an informed decision,” she said.
Smith-Heys insists her recruiters respect the rules of the school.
“At the beginning of each year, we sit down and talk about ground rules,” said Smith-Heys. “When a principal calls me, we have issues. But I don’t have negative calls. Most of my recruiters are from the area and we don’t want to tarnish that reputation.”
Although No Child Left Behind created the mandate, many schools provided the information before the federal education law passed.
“For as long as I can remember, as long as the military has requested directory information, you’ve always given it to him,” James Irving, director of pupil services for Canton City Schools, said. “... It hasn’t changed.”
Meagan Matson, head of Mainstreet Moms, a national organization working to mobilize parents against the legislation, said, “I think that many schools were just turning it over. No Child Left Behind was the first time the federal government had stepped in and threatened schools that did not turn over their lists with the loss of federal funding.”
Studebaker said that her organization is letting parents know of this provision and enabling them to consider options.
“The goal is to try to get people motivated to speak to their school system,” she said.
I will let you make your own judgement.
~FMC
Is your campaign anti-military?
The Leave My Child Alone campaign focuses on one simple issue: should public high schools turn over private contact information of minor children to military recruiters without explicit written permission from parents. Among those who support our campaign are current and retired military service members who are proud of their service to their country and indeed fought to protect the privacy rights and freedoms which we seek to defend. We support our troops, but we do not support recruiters visiting or calling children at their homes without explicit written permission from their parents.
Senators and congressmen themselves have a higher rate of former military service.
Maybe their kids don't, but they do.
Funny, today I asked the parents of some 19-22 year old boys whether their sons were considering military careers. You would have thought I asked whether they were planning careers in sodomy...no, actually, that would have been better received.
I'm not "affluent" and I didn't "encourage" my three boys to serve either. They did it on their own. One Army. One Air Force and one Navy.
I just do not get this. I find no rhyme or reason for this action on the grounds of our schools.
I wonder if ROTC will be phased out, would not shock me.
As for the affluent, I have a feeling is how that word is defined. Frankly, I think every graduating senior should serve in our military for a variety of reason's but that will not happen. Having said that, where are they getting their number's to base this article on?
Tossing my hands in the air.
"...if it weren't for double standards, liberals wouldn't have any standards at all."
Now THAT'S the statement of the day!
The left fears that our high school children do not have the maturity to listen to a recruiter and make a proper decision, yet with abortion they support our children's "right" to an unrestricted abortion on demand, without a parent's involvement. Wonder why they are so mature for abortion but so immature for listening to a recruiter?
Tossing one's hands into the air is very french. Rather, I suggest you hunker down for the next stage of the assault.
Danged if I don't think we shouldn't revisit Heinlein's idea that only veterans should be allowed citizenship.
There are plenty of soldiers who came from an affluent background. I can't agree with your statement that, "things have changed so much." I don't think that's changed at all.
Please remove me from all of you ping lists.
Thank you.
grizzfan
I love how they say "The rich not encouraging their kids to join." Like we are supposed to care about that. I am not rich. My ex is not rich. Both of our girls (16 and 13 y/o respectively) are eligible for free college education(half american indian) but are considering the military. My oldest says she will only join if she can be a Marine Sniper, or be guaranteed to bomb chauvanistic terrorists from 15,000 ft. I guess she's got a little blood lust. Must get that from her mother.
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