COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Counter-Recruitment: General
Peace group wants access to schools
TIFFANY LANKES, Herald Tribune
November 19. 2007
Members of the Coalition of Concerned Patriots have a message they
want to deliver to high school students.
It is a message for peace, one they say is necessary to balance the
military recruiting that is prevalent on school campuses.
Coalition members are asking that the Sarasota and Manatee school
districts allow their group on school grounds.
"It would be wonderful to go sit on the other side of the cafeteria
table just like I imagine the military recruiters do," said Don
Thompson, co-chairman of the coalition.
The local coalition's effort matches a national push by peace groups
to counter the military recruiting that has become more controversial
since the federal No Child Left Behind Act passed in 2001. The law
gives military recruiters unprecedented access to students, requiring
schools to turn over their contact information and allowing
recruiters the same campus access provided colleges and other employers.
Across the country, peace groups have responded by asking for an
equal chance to promote their message.
The issue is forcing schools to weigh the merits of allowing these
groups access against their concerns for protecting students.
Administrators say they fear allowing access for peace groups could
open the floodgates for scores of other groups that want to spread
political messages.
School officials also point out that -- unlike military recruiters,
employers or colleges -- peace groups are typically not recruiting
students for opportunities after they graduate.
"These folks are not offering another career opportunity, " said Gary
Leatherman, spokesman for the Sarasota County School District.
"They're offering a viewpoint."
The groups point to a 1989 court ruling that established that schools
must give the same access to peace groups promoting career
alternatives that they give recruiters, including those from the
military, businesses and colleges.
The ruling prompted the Pinellas County school district in August to
become one of the first school districts in the state to adopt a
policy allowing members of peace groups on campus if they provide
students with some sort of career information.
"You have to have something to offer our students besides a message,"
said David Koperski, an attorney with the Pinellas school district.
In some counties, the peace movement has moved beyond recruiting.
For several years, an issue in Manatee was the district's
distribution of the opt-out forms schools are required to provide
parents if they do not want their child's contact information turned
over to military recruiters. The local coalition wanted the district
to make the forms readily available in the student handbook. In
August, the board obliged.
Even then, the Sarasota and Manatee school districts are maintaining
their refusal to allow the groups on campus.
The coalition, in turn, has found other ways to promote its message.
Last year it started attending public school events in Manatee
County, including athletic games and graduations.
In the past few weeks, members have turned their attention to
Sarasota, standing outside Booker High School before school starts
and providing information to students.
Thompson says the group plans to target more campuses in Sarasota and
Manatee counties.
"We will continue doing this until we get into the schools," Thompson
said. "We maintain that we have a right to be there."
Booker junior Desiree Gadson said she could see the value of allowing
the group access to students.
But she also thought there could be an alternative to letting the
groups on campus, such as having a public meeting or career fair.
"In any situation, both sides should be represented, " said Desiree, 16.
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