[A-List] US military: schools recruitment

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

Parents furious as Pentagon slides recruiting officers into classrooms

Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington
Thursday December 5, 2002
The Guardian

US military recruiters have established a beachhead in the country's
classrooms under a little-known law which lets them look for talent in
secondary schools.

An obscure rider in President Bush's sweeping overhaul of the education
system requires the heads of 22,000 schools which receive federal funds to
give every branch of the armed forces the same access to students as
university and business talent scouts.

That includes providing unlisted phone numbers and other contact information
for students in their final two years.

The urgency of the mission is not immediately apparent, since the outpouring
of patriotism after September 11 has increased recruitment and the army's
quota of 79,500 recruits this year was oversubscribed by October.

But Pentagon officials complain that school guidance counsellors are not
doing a good job of presenting the military as an attractive option and more
students are enrolling for higher eduction.

"Many of those best able to advise youth about post-high school options have
little first-hand experience [of] today's military," a Pentagon official
said.

"Adult influencers may underestimate the military's value as a powerful
foundation for success in any endeavour."

The Pentagon also says that recruitment has become more expensive in the
past 10 years, and letting its 4,000 recruitment officers have the names and
phone numbers of students could keep costs down.

Appalled parents and teachers in liberal areas have accused the Pentagon of
attempting to brainwash children. Civil rights organisations say that
gathering personal information clearly violates students' privacy.

Officially, schools and parents have the right to block the release of names
and numbers, but their reluctance to do so, critics say, shows the degree of
confusion and school officials' fear of losing their funding. Before the law
went into effect in July, 859 schools banned military recruiters. By October
31 the number was down to 35.

The pressure comes from the highest levels. In October the defence
secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, and the education secretary, Rod Paige, wrote
jointly to school officials telling them that maintaining present
recruitment levels "requires the active support of public institutions in
presenting military opportunities to our young people for their
consideration".

"For some of our students, this may be the best opportunity they have to get
a college education."