Countering Military Recruitment in Local Schools
The ACLU of Southern California is providing assistance to a coalition of teachers, parents and students throughout Los Angeles County who are trying to get to the bottom of the scope of military recruiting efforts on public school campuses.
The Coalition Against Militarism in Our Schools (CAMS) formed out of concerns that military recruiters target low-income and minority students on public campuses, and that college recruiters are given less access to students than military recruiters.
In March, the ACLU/SC filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to all branches of the military in order to get answers on the scope of military activities at public schools. While that effort continues, we are also working directly in the community on the issue.
In July, staff attorney Ranjana Natarajan and research fellow Sophie Fanelli met with Los Angeles Unified School District officials over the district’s policies covering students talking about military recruiting issues, and offered proposed policy changes to assure responsible oversight of military recruiters. The meeting was prompted by reprimands given to MEChA club members at Reseda High School after they distributed flyers against military recruitment on campus. School administrators, accompanied by the sergeant of the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps., met with club members and told them that the flyers were too controversial, and demanded that all future flyers from the club receive administrative approval, regardless of topic. Only after the ACLU/SC intervened did school administrators back down.
ACLU/SC staff members are also creating brochures and other items to help students, parents, teachers and community members understand their rights when speaking about military recruitment in public schools, and to learn more about the issue in general. Staff is holding training sessions on the issue, and chapters are hosting events and forums to assist in public outreach.
Several branches of the armed services have been facing “significant shortages” in recruitment efforts, according to the Stars and Stripes, the newspaper servicing the armed forces. Between October 2004 and June 2005, the Army missed its overall new recruit goal of 80,000 by 14 percent. The Army National Guard was short 23 percent, or 10,400 new recruits, while the Army Reserve was down 21 percent, or about 4,100 volunteers.
Sharp drops in enlistment have been among black youth and young women, the newspaper reported. In June, 2003 10 percent of women of recruiting age told surveyors they were inclined to join the service. But by November 2004, only 7 percent of female respondents said they were interested in joining up. Black youth interest dropped to 11 percent from 21 percent over that same period.
The military is countering through an increased ad campaign and rolling out a massive slate of incentives. In July, the Army announced a new package of recruiting bonuses, college funds and special pay for certain jobs that could land a new active duty recruit more than $100,000, the New York Times reported. That month the Pentagon asked Congress to increase the maximum age for recruits in all branches to 42. Currently, the age limit is 35 for active duty recruits, while 39 is the limit for reserves and National Guard recruits with no prior experience.
SEPTEMBER 2005
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Countering Military Recruitment in Local Schools
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