COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Recruiting: Student Privacy
School, military skirmish over data on students
Carolyn Jones, San Francisco Gate Chronicle
June 12, 2007
Berkeley High remains the only high school in the nation that has
failed to comply with the military's request for students' data, a
Department of Defense spokesman said.
A month ago, the school -- under pressure from the government to
release the data or lose funding -- changed its policy that blocked
the release of students' personal information. The new policy allows
students and parents who do not wish to be contacted by military
recruiters to opt out by signing a form.
But the school did not immediately release the data to the
government. Instead, a group of parents have been on a campaign to
ask each and every student whether they want to opt out.
Thus far, 90 percent of the students at Berkeley High have refused to
have their names released to miliary recruiters.
Berkeley High risked losing $10 million in federal funding, and
possibly faced legal action, if it did not change its policy
regarding military recruitment.
The controversy began in 2001, when the federal No Child Left Behind
law passed. It requires school districts to hand over personal
contact information for all juniors and seniors to military
recruiters. The law also allows students to opt out.
The Berkeley Unified School District board has a strict policy
against releasing students' personal information. So previously,
instead of adopting an opt out policy, it used an "opt in" procedure
in which students and parents could sign a form only if they wanted
their information released to the military.
The result was that only about two dozen students a year opted in.
One year only 16 did, said district spokesman Mark Coplan.
The military was not thrilled with the results and began pressuring
district and school administrators to increase the numbers.
Maj. Stewart Upton, Department of Defense spokesman, said that
recruiters have a tough time finding students because of "reduced
interest" among young people and the strict eligibility requirements.
"Today's military recruiters must find and recruit from among the
best and brightest of America's youth in a very challenging market,"
Upton wrote in an e-mail. "One vital tool that our recruiters rely on
to help them succeed is access to high schools, in order to provide
students with the opportunity to learn about the option of military service."
Local military recruiters complained, and progressively
higher-ranking officers all the way up to a general came to Berkeley
and met with Superintendent Michele Lawrence to resolve the matter.
Things escalated in May, when "the general got a call from the
undersecretary of Defense, who made it clear in no uncertain terms
that Berkeley was the last high school in the nation that has not
complied and they would move forward with legal action," Coplan said.
After that, Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger asking for something to be done.
The school held several assemblies a month ago, explaining why the
district was changing its policy and advising students to sign the
forms immediately -- whether they wanted to opt in or opt out.
Of the school's 1,500 juniors and seniors, 1,350 signed opt out forms
prohibiting the district from turning over their data. The remaining
150 either have not responded or signed consent forms allowing the
district to turn over their names, address and phone numbers to the military.
Parent volunteers are contacting the 150 to determine their
intentions. The results won't be available until next week, after
school is out for the summer.
"Not a lot of people know what's going on with the war," said Krystal
Elebiary, a junior who joined with student Daniel Sandoval to write a
letter and collect about 250 student signatures proclaiming, "We will
not be used as tools for an unjust and imperialist war."
At a news conference Monday, the pair criticized the Bush
administration for forcing Berkeley's compliance by threatening to
withhold education funding from the school.
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