Organizing to Limit Military Recruiting in Public Schools

1. Organizing to Limit Military Recruiting in Public Schools Tuesday, October 28, 2008 Amy Hagopian American Public Health Association

2. Presenter Disclosures • (1) The following personal financial relationships with commercial interests relevant to this presentation existed during the past 12 months: • No relationships to disclose

3. Presenter Disclosures • (1) The following personal financial relationships with commercial interests relevant to this presentation existed during the past 12 months: • No relationships to disclose

4. Military recruiting in schools changed in 2002. Section 9528 of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and Section 544 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002

5. NCLB required high schools to: • 1.Turn over students’ contact information to the military. • 2. Provide the same access to students for military recruiters as to other recruiters. …or risk losing federal funding and be subject to intervention by the Department of Defense.

6. JROTC • Recruiting tool? • True costs to districts. "...one of the best recruitment programs we could have.” …Former Secretary of Defense William Cohen

7. Armed Forces Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) Test

8. Vans, climbing walls, video games, etc.

9. Wilamette High Cheerleaders get military escort on the football field

10. When Marine recruiters go way beyond the call By SUSAN PAYNTER SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER COLUMNIST Wednesday, June 8, 2005

11. Remind you of anything?

12. Future Soldier Program Under-age kids are recruited in the Delayed Entry Program GI Rights Hotline reports aggressive recruiters try to intimidate youngsters

13. Full page ads in student paper

14. Enter the PTSA

15. PTSA calls for end to recruitment in schools

16. Garfield High May 2005 Confronting military recruitment, Garfield High May 2005

18. Opt out rules liberalized • Visits limited to 2 per year • Recruiting website • Counter recruiters welcome

19. The good news… • NCLB itself allows students (even under 18) and parents to opt out of sending information to the military. • FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) allows parents, guardians, and students over 18 to opt out of having information sent to outside agencies, including the military. • Some districts have really weird opt out policies.

20. Opting out as an organizing tool • Long, boring NCLB/FERPA form goes to homes in September. • Must be returned by specified date within a month. • When military branches ask for student data, report should not included opted out students.

21. Increase % opt-out

22. Opt Out Walk Out CoalitionNov. 2 2005 walkout

23. Counter recruiting

24. Tabling at School Board conferences • Raise the question • Offer model policy

25. Reaching out to counselors • Targeted workbook • Ads in their journals

26. Revise NCLB • Representative Honda’s Student Privacy Protect Act would require that parents give permission to schools before they could release personal contact information.

28. Dod Database/Joint Advertising and Marketing Research & Studies Office (JAMRS) Here are some things we would like to do:        *  Extend our outreach and networking efforts to rural Washington school districts where military recruiting is particularly aggressive.        *  Mail information to every school board member and high school counselor in the State.        *  Continue to exhibit at statewide educators  meetings as well as do presentations in workshops.        *  Continue to develop and print materials  for students and educators.        *  Attend and exhibit at teachers' union meetings.         *  Attend and exhibit at statewide conference for school principals.         *  Assist in developing student-led groups. • A data base of 30 million 16 to 25 year olds including name, address, email addresses, cell phone numbers, ethnicity, social security numbers, areas of study, lots of etcs. • Information from driver’s license bureau, etc. • Database is updated daily and distributed monthly to the Armed Services for recruitment purposes.

29. Opt Out of the JAMRS/DoD Data Base • Written request (forms available on line) to ask that your child be added to the “suppression files” of the Pentagon’s database. Include: • Your child’s full name • Address with zip code • A phone number SEND YOUR REQUEST TO JAMRS (Can send a copy to school principal and district superintendent)

30. Marketed to students as the “Career Exploration Program” Discover Yourself: The ASVABThis test should help them (and their parents) figure out what career directions may be most appropriate.

31. The purpose of ASVAB On ASVAB, from the Department of Defense Instruction NUMBER 1304.12E 9/20/05 3.2.1 The purposes of the DOD Student Testing Program are to: 3.2.1.1 Provide the military services with access to the high school market and recruiters with prequalified recruiting leads.

32. Recruiter Release Options 1 Provide student test information to recruiting services no sooner than 7 days after mailed to school 2 Provide student test information to recruiting services no sooner than 60 days after mailed to school 3 Provide student test information to recruiting services no sooner than 90 days after mailed to school 4 Provide student test information to recruiting services no sooner than 120 days after mailed to school 5 Provide student test information to recruiting services no sooner than the end of the SY for that specific school or 30 June 6 Provide student test information to recruiting services no sooner than 7 days after mailed to school with instruction that no telephone solicitation by recruiters will be conducted as a result of test information provided 7 Invalid test results. Student test information is not provided to recruiting services 8 Access to student test information is not provided to recruiting services

33. What you can do about ASVAB: • Be sure counselors, administrators, students and families know what the test is and how it is used. • Be sure the test is not mandatory. • Let families know about “option 8”, so student contact information isn’t sent to the military. • Be sure recruiting is not allowed on site.

34. NCLB also guarantees the same access to military recruiters as to other recruiters. • Is military access the same as for other recruiters? Or more? • Do recruiters have free access to students? Where- Lunchroom, hall, or office? • Safety issues.

35. Another approach-Equal Access • Ninth Circuit Court Ruling in the 1986 Basically- states that the question of military service (whether voluntary or compulsory) is a controversial political (not academic or economic) issue • So, if a school establishes a forum for one side to present its views on the issue it must give opponents equal access to the forum.

36. C-R Activities for Equal Access • Placing literature displays in career and counseling centers. • Setting up displays at career and college fairs. • Placing posters and literature on bulletin boards. • Having speakers and printed materials and classrooms. • Running ads in school newspapers.

37. Literature display competition

38. Alternatives to the military • The weakest link in counter recruiting.. • Work with the school counselor: Find job info Find scholarship info Display counter- recruiting info

39. Resources • Washington Truth in Recruiting (WaTiR) http://www.watir.org/ • American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) Youth and Militarism Project http://www.afsc.org/Youth&Militarism/ • The Project on Youth and non-military opportunities (Project YANO) http://www.projectyano.org/

40. More resources • The National Network Opposing the Militarization of Youth (NNOMY) http://www.nnomy.org/joomla/index.php • G.I. Rights Hotline 800 394 9544 http://www.girights.org/ • National C-R listserve- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/counter-recruitment/

41. Peace