Students Not Soldiers
By John Judge
Winter 2004
Volume 40, Number 1
In a time of increased military intervention abroad, the Pentagon still relies on the "poverty draft" of unemployment and limited options to fill its ranks. Recruiters and recruiting ads are a constant presence inside schools and in daily life. DC has always been over-represented in military ranks during wars abroad, outstripping totals of 3 states in WWI, 4 states in WWII, 8 states in the Korean war and 10 during the Vietnam war - a total of 6,000 who served, drafted, or enlisted. The militarization of DC schools and students continues to grow.
A limit on the national number of JROTC (Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps) units in high schools has just been lifted. But every DC high school already has a unit in place, costing the school system $2.4 million annually for a program that enrolls 15% of the students and loses 95% of those by the senior year - making it the most costly per-capita curriculum offered. In at least three high schools in DC, JROTC is effectively mandatory for freshmen who find it listed on their initial class schedule.
In addition to these recruiting methods, there is Young Marines, a militarized version of Boy Scouts that recruits youth at age 8. Military summer camps are offered to inner-city youth unable to afford private ones, starting at age 13, and young people are introduced to weapon systems and "military courtesy and discipline" at the camps. Military "Adventure Vans" also travel across country to attract youngsters with rigged video target games that insure they feel confident about their ability to kill an "enemy", part of their preparation for enlistment. Some DC middle schools offer a JROTC "feeder course" geared to recruit youth into the high school programs when they get there.
However, there was no major rise in military enlistment after the attacks of September 11, 2001. Recruiters are still meeting quotas, but an expanded force and the losses of ongoing war are forcing them to seek new methods of getting quotas.
The most recent is a provision added to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA), which controls federal funding for education. All post-secondary schools are now required to provide a list of contact information on all students to military recruiters on request, at the cost of federal funding if they refuse to comply. A few schools around the country have already refused, and we are monitoring the outcome. The NCLBA language also gives students and parents the right to refuse release of the private information on request. Unfor-tunately, most students and parents have not heard about the law or their rights.
The Washington Peace Center, C.H.O.I.C.E.S. and AFSC/DC created the Students Not Soldiers campaign to organize opposition to the new recruiting drive and to protect the rights of students. Working with students, educators, counter-recruiters and peace activists, we organized a teach-in on the issue and the new techniques, attended by 35 people. We held monthly meetings as well as meetings in the schools to do outreach to students and concerned activists. We created a postcard, based on the language of the NCLBA and addressed to the Superintendent of the DC Public School System, allowing students to indicate that they did not want their information released to recruiters. We went into the schools, spoke to students and teachers, attended student-run events and collected hundreds of these cards. We also organized and trained students to distribute and collect the cards in Cardozo, Wilson, and Anacostia High schools.
Students Not Soldiers mem-bers testified at public meetings of the DC Board of Education and the DC City Council's Committee on Schools and Libraries, raising our concerns about NCLBA and JROTC. We discovered that at least one Board of Education member had already written his own letter to the Superintendent refusing to divulge contact information on his son. We convinced the Board and the Committee, as well as the Superintendent and his staff that student privacy was endangered, and that there was a workable and legal solution being used in other school districts. DC officials decided to adopt and send out an "opt-in" letter, which requires parents to send in a signed release before any contact information is given to a recruiter. Some schools apparently sent their own letters, agreeing to withhold information only for those students whose parents responded. We are working to get the schools to adopt a uniform policy that will protect student rights.
Students Not Soldiers is also opposed to the ongoing funding of JROTC in our schools, which are already financially strapped. The current Mayor's budget cuts an additional $10 million from the previous school budget locally. DC high schools can hardly afford an annual cost of $2.4 million for a military recruiting program plagued with low enrollment and with a more severe dropout rate than any other course. JROTC has no proven record of improving grades or retaining students in school, and at best duplicates or at worst distorts academic classes already offered. It will take an additional year, under the military/school contract to de-fund the program, but it is critical to make the decision now. We plan to continue to raise this issue at all DCPS public forums. We hope DC community activists and concerned parents will take it up with their school and council representatives.
The Washington Peace Center worked with students from Caesar Chavez charter school to produce a radio broadcast quality CD aimed at letting DC youth know about the NCBLA and their rights.
C.H.O.I.C.E.S. continues its work of bringing veterans and information on the reality of military life and many civilian alternatives into the DC high schools. We attend as many Career Days and school events as we can, as well as community job fairs and other youth events. We have been reaching into the charter schools as well. A summer intern at the Washington Peace Center updated C.H.O.I.C.E.S. literature and brochures. C.H.O.I.C.E.S. is seeking veterans and others who want to go into the schools this year to counter the recruiting presence there.
Students Not Soldiers mem-bers attended citywide teacher/parent events and tabled with our literature, as well as a Roots of Peace hip-hop concert. Recently, representatives of Students Not Soldiers helped to organize the "Stop The War Where It Begins" national conference on counter-recruitment in Philadelphia. Trent Moyer of AFSC/DC and John Judge of C.H.O.I.C.E.S. and the Wash-ington Peace Center also organized and spoke on panels regarding many aspects of counter-recruitment work. The speakers and attendees were a diverse racial and cultural mix, both young and old, exper-ienced and new. Over 130 people attended, and new ideas and networks for organizing a response to militarization of our schools were discussed and adopted.
It is not impossible to have an impact on the drive to militarization and war. Working with and reaching out to students, the next generation of potential recruits, is critical. Many students are already opposed to the ongoing wars of this administration and made their opposition visible with walkouts and other demon-strations organized by Students for Peace. Other students do not know their rights or their options. The military is an employer that comes to them, and offers false promises of job training and money for college in exchange for eight years of their life, or their death. Most veterans will tell you it is not a fair trade, and that they did not learn skills they could use later. Only 15% of those who use the GI Bill to finance college actually graduate, and only 35% of those eligible use the funds at all. We need to let young people know that there are other ways to get money for college and to get skills that will last them a lifetime in the civilian sector. And perhaps most importantly, they need to know there are other options besides violence and war to settle disputes between people, races, or nations.
The choice before us seems clear. Do we want a militarized fortress state and a society based on fear, a permanent war economy and an end to Constitutional rights or do we want a real democracy, a foreign policy that provides real security and a domestic economy and federal budget that meets human needs instead, here and abroad? We can't let a fear of terrorism decide for us. Ending the militarization of our schools and educating our youth about war and their rights is a first step in making a better choice. Please join us:
Students Not Soldiers, c/o AFSC/DC, 1422 14th St., NW, Washington, DC 20009. Contact: Trent Moyer 202-299-1050
C.H.O.I.C.E.S., P.O. Box 7147, Washington, DC 20044. Contact: John Judge