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
Taking federal money is an affront to the principle of local controls. They should tell the feds to take their money and their rules and go away - it would probably save them more than it would cost.
So, the military can contact high school kids. If the kid's not interested in the military, he can hang up the phone. If the parents don't even want Uncle Sam to ring them up, they can opt out. Yeah, it all sounds awfully oppressive.
Since schools have almost eliminated vocational programs, where but the military are the bottom half of the class gonna learn a trade?
I hope some of these liberal puds refuse to comply and end up in Federal Prison. That would send a little dose of reality into the teachers unions.
So9
Not a big deal here, although I do suspect a possible waste of money. And the schools all do worse, they hand out addresses of honor roll students to private colleges, who are in the business of sucking up government dollars to teach our kids to be socialists. When you factor in the yearbook and class ring scams, our schools are always ready to pimp our kids for a few bucks.
I think there's a little bit of a privacy issue here; a kid's being in school is between him and his parents and the school, and the Army just doesn't have any 'right' to the information.
Sure, it makes recruiting easier, but it would make recruiting easier for MacDonalds, too. Imagine the stink if MacD sued to get access to school rosters in order to find new counter help.
That said, you're right, as 'oppression' it probably isn't worth worrying about.
| 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.
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They ought to at least get it correct...
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 male students' names, addresses and phone numbers.
In the '60s, it was a real big deal that a lot of colleges didn't let ROTC or recruiters on campus.
I can't even see why they need a law to get the names. As long as registering for the draft (even though there isn't one) at age 18 is a law, I would think the government has every right to have those names, and it would seem entirely appropriate that students are educated about military options, why it is important to register, what time of student should be considering the military, etc.
I would love to see schools that refused to do this be denied all federal funds, and students who refuse to register refused all scholarship aid.
No, you aren't. This isn't a new topic (except apparently to vannrox), and was widely discussed a year or two ago.
There's also an "opt-out" option - if students or parents don't want their names & addresses given to colleges or recruiters, they can sign a paper saying so.
The whole thing came about because some schools in liberal areas would let college recruiters contact their students, but weren't allowing military recruiters the same access.
Its a waste of time. If you're interested in joining the armed forces, a telemarketer is going to hinder, not help.
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