Opt-Out and Equal access
Opt-out
Buried deep within the No Child Left Behind Act, section 9528 requires schools to turn over student contact information or risk losing their federal funding. Students can opt-out of having their information shared with recruiters, check your school’s website and student handbook to see if they have opt-out forms posted or you can use this generic form in English or Spanish – students who are still minors can, according to the Department of Education, fill out the forms and opt themselves out of having their information shared. Make copies of the form and share them with your classmates at the start of the school year, before the information is turned over to the recruiters (generally in mid- or late October).
Talk to your administrators about making sure that all students and parents see the opt-out forms and are given the option of withholding their information.
You can also work to change your school district’s policy to opt-in for students to intentionally choose to have their information shared with military recruiters, which students organizing in Montclair, NJ, LA and other places have been successful in doing.
Equal Access
The No Child Left Behind Act, which would have been more aptly named the No Child Un-recruited Act, includes a guarantee that military recruiters receive equal access to schools, meaning the same access given to college and job recruiters. Often, military recruiters are given privileged access - in some schools of low-income, rural or people of color communities military recruiters from various branches visit everyday – or allowed to roam the halls unattended, bring climbing walls and humvees equipped with video games for students to visit outside during lunchtime.
How frequently do you see college recruiters in your hallways? How often do you see military recruiters in the cafeteria or pulling students out of class for appointments? Are college and job recruiters limited to the guidance counselor’s office or the career center? Do military recruiters have the same limitations? These are questions you should ask when it comes to making sure military recruiters have equal, not better, access to students as other recruiters.
If your school feels overrun by military recruiters, talk to your principal or school board about your concerns and work to change the policy that sets boundaries for all recruiters, equally.
The No Child Left Behind Act will be up for re-authorization in 2007, which means access to schools and information by military recruiters is one of many things wrong with the act that can be debated and potentially changed. As the re-authorization nears we will have more information and resources on what you can do to pressure your legislators to demilitarize our schools!
Opt-out work around the country
Support the Student Privacy Protection Act (opt-in instead of opt-out policy)
Download the Student Privacy Protection Act petition to use in your school
