Military Forcing Schools to Give Childrens Info or Lose Fed Funds

In another sneaky move that apparantly no one in Congress read, again, the "No Child Left Behind" Act takes on a whole new meaning.
Since this legislation was several hundred pages long and hidden somewhere in it was the fact that the military is to be given complete access to ALL schools and the personal information of ALL students or lose ALL Federal Funding.
Have a read and confirm for yourselves what kind of sh*t has been elected by ONLY ONE-THIRD of the American Voters. GEEZ-US!!! Is it too late for a WAKE-UP CALL?????????????????
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Sharon Shea-Keneally, principal of Mount Anthony Union High School in Bennington, Vermont, was shocked when she received a letter in May from military recruiters demanding a list of all her students, including names, addresses, and phone numbers. The school invites recruiters to participate in career days and job fairs, but like most school districts, it keeps student information strictly confidential. "We don't give out a list of names of our kids to anybody," says Shea-Keneally, "not to colleges, churches, employers -- nobody."

� Recruiting the Class of 2005

� No Child Left Behind Act
� Joint Letter from Secretary of Education Ron Paige and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

But when Shea-Keneally insisted on an explanation, she was in for an even bigger surprise: The recruiters cited the No Child Left Behind Act, President Bush's sweeping new education law passed earlier this year. There, buried deep within the law's 670 pages, is a provision requiring public secondary schools to provide military recruiters not only with access to facilities, but also with contact information for every student -- or face a cutoff of all federal aid.

"I was very surprised the requirement was attached to an education law," says Shea-Keneally. "I did not see the link."

The military complained this year that up to 15 percent of the nation's high schools are "problem schools" for recruiters. In 1999, the Pentagon says, recruiters were denied access to 19,228 schools. Rep. David Vitter, a Republican from Louisiana who sponsored the new recruitment requirement, says such schools "demonstrated an anti-military attitude that I thought was offensive."

To many educators, however, requiring the release of personal information intrudes on the rights of students. "We feel it is a clear departure from the letter and the spirit of the current student privacy laws," says Bruce Hunter, chief lobbyist for the American Association of School Administrators. Until now, schools could share student information only with other educational institutions. "Now other people will want our lists," says Hunter. "It's a slippery slope. I don't want student directories sent to Verizon either, just because they claim that all kids need a cell phone to be safe."

The new law does give students the right to withhold their records. But school officials are given wide leeway in how to implement the law, and some are simply handing over student directories to recruiters without informing anyone -- leaving students without any say in the matter.

"I think the privacy implications of this law are profound," says Jill Wynns, president of the San Francisco Board of Education. "For the federal government to ignore or discount the concerns of the privacy rights of millions of high school students is not a good thing, and it's something we should be concerned about."

Educators point out that the armed services have exceeded their recruitment goals for the past two years in a row, even without access to every school. The new law, they say, undercuts the authority of some local school districts, including San Francisco and Portland, Oregon, that have barred recruiters from schools on the grounds that the military discriminates against gays and lesbians. Officials in both cities now say they will grant recruiters access to their schools and to student information -- but they also plan to inform students of their right to withhold their records.

Some students are already choosing that option. According to Principal Shea-Keneally, 200 students at her school -- one-sixth of the student body -- have asked that their records be withheld.

Recruiters are up-front about their plans to use school lists to aggressively pursue students through mailings, phone calls, and personal visits -- even if parents object. "The only thing that will get us to stop contacting the family is if they call their congressman," says Major Johannes Paraan, head U.S. Army recruiter for Vermont and northeastern New York. "Or maybe if the kid died, we'll take them off our list."
"What a load of dog squeeze!!!"

[Edited on 7-11-2002 by tooterhead]

Why on earth does everyone act like this is new, for pity's sake?

My son's been in the Navy for about 4 years now. He started getting calls about 5 years ago, and since they don't share the enrolees' addresses, he was getting calls from the Army, the Air Force, and the Marines long after he'd gone to boot camp and was in his first A-school.

My daughter got them, too.

I'm not sure what area of the US the author is living in, but it's sure not Texas where this has been a common practice for the past 6 years or so.

"Rep. David Vitter, a Republican from Louisiana who sponsored the new recruitment requirement, says such schools "demonstrated an anti-military attitude that i thought was offensive."

Jesus. That is unbeliveable. how can anyone back that up? let the military entice your kids into joining before they've even left school? what?!? I really like this guys reasoning. Hmm, they dont like war? they dont want to join the army? they must be bloody hippies! sign them up now! also like the way he thinks its justified because he thought it was offensive. Offensive? it should be praised to the rafters! i need to stop now. that has really wound me up.

Kegs you have no idea what you are talking about..what was being done was that every one was invited to the job fairs etc. eccept the recruiters..SO you tell me. Why is it so horriable to YOU that the average High school student learn that there is a job in the military for them..And please spare me and others the cock and bull story that they will all get killed.

Boomslang

i could care less if the military has my info. i doubt i'll be invaded during a shower or something. as for the military in schools, people can get over it, it is not a big deal. look at n. korea, most everyone there goes through some service in the military at part of their lives. this isn't even the case in america so leave it be. as americans we really have nothing to complain about. i think it'd be funny to see the dog the marines bring into our school bite someones hand off. give everyone a good laugh. just for that i'll probably be typing one handed very soon

The problem I see is that, just like the government that runs it, the military has *no legal grounds* to demand personal information in such a manner. According to current laws, the only information that the government can *require* you to give (unless, of course, you decide to apply for a job in a governmental department of some kind, including the military) is the information neccesary to collect their taxes. Any other types of information is considered personal & they have no right to *demand* it.