From The San Francisco Chronicle, 3/2/05:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2005%2F03%2F02%2FMNGRMBITPF1.DTL
Stricter limits sought on military's access to high schools
By Edward Epstein, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Washington --
San Jose Democratic Rep. Mike Honda, citing privacy concerns, has
proposed a law that would make it easier for parents to block military
recruiters from gaining easy access to high school students on or off
campus.
School officials in cities such as San Francisco, which had banned
military recruiters from campuses for a decade, say the recruiting
issue has become heated as U.S. military casualties mount in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
Recent Defense Department reports say the military is having a tougher
time meeting recruiting goals for the all-volunteer force, increasing
the pressure on recruiters -- armed with a $4 billion budget -- to
sign up more high school juniors and seniors.
The No Child Left Behind Act approved by Congress in 2001 requires
school districts to provide military recruiters with the same access
to high schools given to college or job recruiters.
Under the current law, parents must tell school officials they don't
want their child contacted by the military, at school or home.
Otherwise, schools are required to turn over students' names,
addresses and phone numbers to Pentagon recruiters.
Honda wants to turn that around, and allow the military to talk only
to those students whose parents approve such contact.
"The authority for such contacts should be with the parents, not the
schools, the military or the federal government,'' said Honda, a
former high school teacher and administrator in Sunnyvale.
"I'm not against them recruiting on campus, but they should follow the
protocol, and that protocol was changed by Congress.''
Honda's proposal, like almost all bills introduced by members of the
House Democratic minority, faces a stiff challenge to even receive a
hearing.
But he has some support.
In San Francisco, school board President Eric Mar strongly endorsed
Honda's proposal and said the district allowed military recruiters
into high schools only after the state Department of Education
threatened to cut off its federal money if it didn't comply with the
new law.
School districts in Santa Cruz and Santa Monica received similar
warnings.
"It's not like the military heavily targets San Francisco,'' Mar said.
"They know we are wary of military recruiters,'' because of widespread
anti- war sentiment in the city and because of the military's "don't
ask, don't tell'' policy that has led to the dismissal of gays and
lesbians from the military.
"We as a school district should have the say not to allow them in at
all, '' he contended.
"There would be tremendous support in our district for what Mr. Honda
is doing.''
But Thomas Donnelly, military analyst at the American Enterprise
Institute, said Honda's proposal is "really stupid. It's going
nowhere, and even if it did, it would face a tough constitutional
challenge.''
"Face it, war is a young person's game,'' said Donnelly, and the
Congress has a constitutional responsibility to raise a military and
needs access to young people.
What's more, he said, federal aid to education gives Washington the
power to tell local school districts what they can do, if they want to
keep their federal money.
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Yup. You want the money? Ya gotta give your kids up for cannon fodder.
Harry
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