Recruiting Sanity in Seattle

In what promises to become an increasingly contentious issue, the Parent-Teacher Association of Seattle's Garfield High School voted 25-5 in favor of a resolution denouncing military recruiting in public schools. From the Christian Science Monitor:

The school is perhaps one of the first in the nation to debate and vote against military recruiting on high school campuses - a topic already simmering at the college level. In fact, the Supreme Court recently agreed to decide whether the federal government can withhold funds from colleges that bar military recruiters.

High schools are struggling with a similar issue as the No Child Left Behind Act requires that schools receiving federal funding must release the names of its students to recruiters. Some feel that's an invasion of privacy prompted by a war effort that has largely divided the American public. Others say barring recruiters is an infringement of free speech - and a snub to the military, particularly in a time of war.

With military recruiters failing to meet goals and coming under fire for misrepresenting offers, such moves may become increasingly common.

Such local actions also call increased attention to one heretofore little discussed section of Bushcorp™'s vaunted No Child Left Behind Act: section 9528.

PublicEducation.org has an excellent summary of 9528 issues, but key are the provisions which 1) require all schools receiving federal funding to provide the military with students' contact information and 2) requiring parents to "opt out" of such disclosures.

Section 9528 is yet another example of congressional mis-representation, and Bushcorp™ disingenuousness. For while NCLB's merits as an approach to helping educate children are debatable, I can see no arguement that making your child more readily available as cannon-fodder (pardon me, IED-fodder) will improve educational acheivement.

Further:

Requiring parents to “opt-out” of having student records disclosed to the military—that is, allowing school districts to disclose student information to the military unless parents provide the school with a written request that information not be disclosed---is much weaker than the “opt-in” provisions of FERPA—which prohibits a school district to disclose student directory or records information unless a parent gives permission to do so.

What is called for, therefore, is for parents and students themselves to draw attention to Bushcorp™'s back-handed recruiting tactics. We must make sure that every parent who doesn't wish to see their children die defending the price of oil knows their rights, lobbies their congress-critters to have this provision revoked, and at very least exercises their right to opt-out.

[x-posted at Daily Kos]