On Monday night, the Evanston School Board heard the opinions of concerned parents and citizens with a packed crowd of 15 in attendance. The commotion this week was about a little-known provision in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. "Many of us as parents at Evanston Township High School [are] requesting that our children's personal identification information never be given to military recruiters," said mother and Neighbors for Peace member Dickelle Fonda.The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 was signed into law on January 8th of 2002. It massively increases the federal funding of education, requires nationalized testing standards for all public schools, and places greater requirements on the hiring of new teachers. But opponents say the contested provision of the Act in Section 9528 has little to do with education.
Section 9528 demands that all high schools that accept new federal money give the personal contact information of every junior and senior in the school to military recruiters or risk losing the new funding. Additionally, the act calls for military recruiters to be given equal access to students. It states, "Local educational agency receiving assistance under this Act shall provide military recruiters the same access to secondary school students as is provided generally to post secondary educational institutions [colleges] or to prospective employers of those students."
The fear of parent and Neighbors for Peace member Anya Cordell was that military recruitment, "leads to a path that most probably involves killing, being killed, or being exposed to harmful chemicals."
The fear for the life of one's child is only natural, but apparently Mrs. Cordell has forgotten about the hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops who have been used in peace keeping missions for the last 50 years. Germany alone currently hosts 37,000 U.S. military personnel to say nothing of Eastern Europe, South Korea, and the many other sizable stations of U.S. military peace keepers. And if the first Gulf War is any indication (leaving aside the vast safety and technological advancements that have been made in the last 12 years), the U.S. is likely to suffer 148 or fewer deaths in any future war with Iraq.
By law, each school must provide the parents with the option to request that their child's contact information not be given to military recruiters. Most of those concerned in this local battle were upset that the school had not provided parents with enough time or a simple way to opt out of the information release. "Having to write a letter to the school... is just not going to happen for most parents," commented Dickelle Fonda in an email.
Schools may, however, release information that would normally be protected under the Federal Family Education Rights and Privacy Act in some circumstances. Many high schools, for example, lawfully release private information on their students to colleges, testing services, class ring companies, and yearbook publishers without the consent of parents each year. But military recruitment is seen as a different matter for some.
Accordingly, Evanston High School has delayed the release of its school directory to local military recruiters. As a result, ETHS is the only high school in the area that is still not in accordance with federal law, and recruiters have become increasingly frustrated with what they see as ETHS's non-compliance. The school administration has answered the concerns of many parents, and they sent a second round of letters in both English and Spanish on January 29th which re-informs parents of Section 9528 of the NCLB Act and makes it easier for them to opt out.
"Our work was not in vain," said Mrs. Cordell.
While most of those who spoke at the board meeting expressed their appreciation for the support of the school board and ETHS administration (who made numerous concession by giving parents a second chance to opt out), these parents and community member still felt a need to protest. Given that their demands had been met, it was unclear as to what exactly they were protesting.
Perhaps a look at the other school districts where this has been an issue would shed some light on this question. In San Francisco, the board of education was faced with the similar complaints. In a resolution that begins, "Whereas: Soul music legend Curtis Mayfield said..." the San Francisco school board devised a plan to become technically in compliance with federal law and in the same breath unanimously denounced any future war in Iraq. This politicization of the issue is telling of the driving force behind this movement.
Mrs. Cordell claimed that it was obvious that parents had either misunderstood or not seen the first notice from ETHS administration concerning the NCLB Act because, "There were only nine parents who opted out."
Coincidentally, there were only nine parents at the school board meeting, even after the highly publicized struggle between administrators and the parent group.
Local teacher and Neighbor for Peace member Amy Kipfner believes that while the military, "seems to be a career of sorts" for some people, her job as a teacher is to help students make "positive choices." Implicitly, a free education and/or a career "of sorts" via the military is not a "positive choice."
Legal commentator Anita Ramasastry wrote in a December 4 column that "In this current climate of heightened patriotism, there is now a serious risk...that high school students will be directly recruited for the military... and urged to make the decision to join on their own, once they turn 18." *Gasp* 18-year-olds making their own life decisions, especially based on a feeling of duty to their country?! Dear me.
Neighbor for Peace and activist organizer Dale Lehman requested that the board allow for "draft counseling" on the NTHS campus to help those students who have been savagely recruited by the military.
And Dickelle Fonda suggested to the board that counter-recruiters who might offer "more peaceful alternatives" be stationed next to military recruiters or that literature and meetings be held to help students become more informed about military recruitment.
Perhaps some people have forgotten the nature of the all-volunteer military we have in the United States. Unlike most nations (developed and undeveloped), this nation at present does not force its citizens into military service. And yet it is the most advanced, powerful, and widely deployed (for both war and peace) armed force in the world. In recent years as the size of the military and the reserves shrinks, the cost of signing a new recruit has sky-rocketed. And yet because we have an all-volunteer army, when asked if you want to serve, you can simply say "no." The same is true of the No Child Left Behind recruitment information clause. If you don't like it, simply say 'no' and opt out.
But that's not the issue for these people. What is at issue is that the role of the armed forces in securing our safety and freedom, as an integral part of the American community, and as a legitimate educational and career option is increasingly devalued and looked down upon. And this is done almost exclusively among the elite left. The American military has historically been an institution that has provided a way for many men and women (often those in the most marginalized communities) to make claims of legitimacy for their place in the American family. The potential dangers of military service are all too well-known, but delegitimizing military service behind the mask of privacy is no way to go about fighting a battle of political ideologies, nor is it an appropriate way to respond to the deaths of those who have served our country in the armed forces.
And of equal but more local importance, Evanston Township High School intends to be keep the new federal money to the benefit of its students by being in full compliance with the NCLB Act within the next month... as it should be.
