Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Anti-Military Recruiting Campaigns Heats up At Seattle Schools
democracynow ^ | May 25th, 2005 | na

Posted on 05/26/2005 3:48:02 AM PDT by Flavius

On Monday, four US military recruiting offices in Seattle were shut down when students blocked the entrances to protest recruitment practices and to oppose the occupation of Iraq. Meanwhile the Parent Teacher Student Association at one school has passed a resolution recommending that military recruiters be barred from the campus. [includes rush transcript] Students from nine local universities, community colleges and high schools joined in simultaneous demonstrations. A military recruiting office near the University of Washington and another near Garfield High School were also blockaded by groups of students.

Garfield High School also made news recently when the school's Parent Teacher Student Association passed a resolution recommending that military recruiters be barred from the campus. The resolution, passed on May 9th, was the first of its kind in the state. Seattle school district officials then released a statement stating that under President Bush's No Child Left Behind Act, it was illegal to ban only military recruiters - they must be granted the same access to students as college or job recruiters at schools that receive federal money.

Garfield High School is no stranger to speaking out against the war. In 2002, the school passed a resolution opposing the invasion in Iraq.

* Amy Hagopian, is the president and co-chair of the Parent Teacher Student Association at Garfield High School in Seattle, Washington.

RUSH TRANSCRIPT

This transcript is available free of charge, however donations help us provide closed captioning for the deaf and hard of hearing on our TV broadcast. Thank you for your generous contribution. Donate - $25, $50, $100, more...

AMY GOODMAN: Joining us on the phone from Seattle is the co-chair of the Parent Teacher Association, Amy Hagopian. She is the mother of a senior at Garfield High. Welcome to Democracy Now!

AMY HAGOPIAN: It’s good to be with you.

AMY GOODMAN: I’m sorry we only have a few minutes. Can you quickly explain how did your P.T.A. vote to kick out the recruiters? And what will happen now?

AMY HAGOPIAN: Our P.T.A. has a mission to promote the welfare of children and youth and to support and speak out on their behalf. That's the mission of P.T.A.s everywhere in America. And we would encourage other P.T.A.s to act on behalf of their mission and also look seriously at the recruitment happening in their schools and the nature of that recruitment, the frequency, the intensity, and the hard pressure tactics.

AMY GOODMAN: Your school is almost a third African American?

AMY HAGOPIAN: It is. It's a inner city school that's large and very diverse. It's a magnet school, so there's many high achieving kids and there's many kids who can’t read.

AMY GOODMAN: What will happen if No Child Left Behind Act says you lose federal funding? Will the school actually stop recruiters from coming on campus?

AMY HAGOPIAN: We can’t physically stop them, and we can’t legally stop them, but we can stand at the doors and explain that they're not welcome, as can every high school in the country. Somebody obviously needs to challenge this legally, but that's a hard task to ask of public schools that are strapped for money.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you very much for being with us, Amy Hagopian, co-chair of the Parent Teacher Association at Garfield High. Another issue we have dealt with in the past is that kids' names are given to the Pentagon automatically by schools, part of the No Child Left Behind Act, unless parents proactively tell the school they don't want those names sent, or the student does, and then those names will not be sent, a story we have covered here.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: recruiters; speachless; themostcorruptstate

Well what can one even say to this nonsense

1 posted on 05/26/2005 3:48:03 AM PDT by Flavius
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Flavius

Visualize traitors dangling from lampposts...


2 posted on 05/26/2005 3:49:07 AM PDT by BeHoldAPaleHorse
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BeHoldAPaleHorse

Schools are worthless anyways, why not open up military schools, where kids are disciplined and learn structures, math, languages, science, and shooting skills. :)


3 posted on 05/26/2005 3:52:22 AM PDT by 1FASTGLOCK45 (FreeRepublic: More fun than watching Dem'Rats drown like Turkeys in the rain! ! !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Flavius

Heinlein's "The Crazy years" comes to mind.

A society is unlikely to recover when it's primary objective, to protect women and children is lost. (It's future)


4 posted on 05/26/2005 3:53:42 AM PDT by listenhillary (If it ain't broke, it will be after the government tries to fix it)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Flavius

They all voted twice as well


5 posted on 05/26/2005 3:56:33 AM PDT by colonialhk (sooprize sooprize sooprize)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Flavius
In 1969 I was 18 years old and quite a pathetic student at one of our local colleges. This was about 2 years before my own brief military career. In those days the popular idea circulating about was to close the local colleges and university to protest US involvement in Vietnam. As poor a student as I was, I made it a point to go to class, sometimes having to make my way through picketers to get there. It was my way of protesting the protesters.

I have never been a particularly brave person and have admired those I considered so. Still, in those days I would not have been able to look at myself in the mirror if I had allowed nihilists to dictate actions and attitudes to me.

Are there no adults left in Washington to protest against the protesters?

6 posted on 05/26/2005 4:00:24 AM PDT by stevem
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Flavius

More money for schools = more money for the Democrat Party. Greedy b*stards.


7 posted on 05/26/2005 4:00:36 AM PDT by who knows what evil? (New England...the Sodom and Gomorrah of the 21st Century, and proud of it!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: listenhillary

RAH "ping". Where's L. Long and Col. Dubois when we need 'em.


8 posted on 05/26/2005 4:13:07 AM PDT by womcg (was in the hospital longer than Kerry was in-country)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Flavius

Many Oxford and Cambridge students signed statements just before World War II stating they would not fight to defend England. Guess if they can't learn from history every generation will have to repeat the idiotic mistakes of the previous one.


9 posted on 05/26/2005 4:53:30 AM PDT by Liberty Wins (Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of all who threaten it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson