Posted on 09/21/2003 12:25:09 PM PDT by vannrox
Schools required to turn over students' names to military recruiters
Knight Ridder Newspapers
WASHINGTON - Military recruiters looking for a few good high school students will have an easier time finding them, thanks to a federal law that requires schools to turn over students' names, addresses and phone numbers.
Congress ordered the school-to-military cooperation as part of No Child Left Behind, the education overhaul that President Bush championed last year. The law, which went into effect in July, also requires high school administrators to let military recruiters onto their campuses.
The terms apply to any school, public or private, that gets federal money under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The only schools exempted are private ones with religious objections to military service, such as those run by Quakers.
The requirements are welcome news at the Pentagon, but some school administrators aren't happy about them. Schools that refuse to obey risk losing federal education money.
Parents can block the release of their children's names, home addresses and phone numbers by instructing school officials to withhold them.
Critics say the law is an invasion of students' privacy and an affront to the principle of local control over schools. They also question the need for the changes, because all of the armed services met their recruitment goals last year.
Some educators are becoming aware of the new requirements only now because the recruiting provisions were overlooked in the midst of Bush's far-reaching education overhaul. The main thrust of the law is to require standardized tests for all students and to set tough accountability standards for schools.
School administrators were put on notice about the recruiting terms in October. A joint letter from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Education Secretary Rod Paige urged schools to "work closely with military recruiters." They reminded educators that the disclosure requirement applies to juniors as well as graduating seniors.
Before the law went into effect, as many as 2,000 high schools barred military recruiters, out of about 21,700 high schools nationwide, according to Defense Department estimates. Most schools are reluctant to share personal information about their students. Other federal laws severely limit the release of students' data.
"We've been very zealous about student privacy, and with good reason: The parents want that," said Bruce Hunter, director of public policy at the American Association of School Administrators.
The Defense Department is eager to take advantage of the new law. Some school districts were asked for their directory lists the day after the changes went into effect.
The Defense Department predicts that easier access to high school students will significantly reduce recruitment costs, which have nearly doubled in the last decade, to $11,600, from $6,500 per new enlistee.
Many schools already were cooperating with military recruiters.
"We've been handing over that information anyway, for at least eight years -- probably longer than that," said Paul Jackson, a spokesman for the Philadelphia school system.
Although male students are required to register with the Selective Service at age 18, Defense Department officials say they have no plans to reinstate a military draft. The armed services need about 210,000 recruits a year to maintain the all-volunteer military, besides 150,000 recruits annually for National Guard and reserve units.
Finding recruits has become more difficult in recent years. The boom economy of the 1990s, an increase in college enrollments and even the shrinking military made it harder to find volunteers.
"Many of those best able to advise youth about post-high school options -- teachers, counselors, coaches, parents -- have little firsthand experience with today's military," says a Defense Department explanation of the new law. "Those adult influences may underestimate the military's value as a powerful foundation for success in any endeavor."
To reach Ron Hutcheson, send e-mail to rhutcheson@krwashington.com
Your post does remind me of yet another pitfall of government education; the government schools have much less of a leg to stand on when it comes to protecting students' privacy. After all, they accept federal money, in one form or another, don't they?
For example, imagine if military recruiters sued toy stores to get access to the names of teen customers. No one would stand for it for a minute; liberals would be the first in that case to point to the proprietary rights of the business to its information. But let the government suggest that, since it's controlling education to a large degree, it ought to have special access to student information. Then liberals forget all about how important the private economy is to civil liberties.
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.