Military recruiting requirement draws some opposition

Schools must give out personal information about students

By: Jeff Milgram
   Some parents are opposing a provision in the 477-page No Child Left Behind educational funding law that requires high schools to give military recruiters personal information about students.
   The federal No Child Left Behind legislation, signed into law last January, gives school districts across the country billions of dollars. But it also says schools must give the military the names, addresses and telephone numbers of juniors and seniors and give military recruiters the same access to their grounds as college and business recruiters.
   Districts that don’t comply with the law can lose federal funding.
   "While the law states you need to give recruiters access to our children, you owe it to our children and us parents to provide information about district policy and also to provide an alternative view to high school students so that they can make an informed choice if and when they are approached and, in some cases, hounded by recruiters," Montgomery resident Bob Witanek wrote to Montgomery schools Superintendent Stuart Schnur in December.
   Even before the law was passed, the Montgomery Township School District permitted military recruiters to come on campus.
   "We have always allowed the military to set up a table at college fairs," said Jack Rotter, assistant to Dr. Schnur. "This is the first time the military has the right to ask for our student directory."
   Mr. Witanek wants the district to send letters twice a year informing parents how they can choose not to participate and to provide a non-consent form. He also wants the district to post its military recruitment policy on its Web site. The Web site should contain a sample opt-out letter, he wrote to Dr. Schnur.
   "He wants us to take a position that’s illegal," Mr. Rotter said.
   Instead, Mr. Rotter said, Mr. Witanek simply can tell the district he doesn’t want his son listed in the student directory.
   Mr. Rotter said the district’s attorney is studying its compliance with the law.
   Both the Princeton Regional and West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional school districts say they are following the law.
   "The policy is we comply with the law," said Princeton Regional Superintendent Claire Sheff Kohn.
   The provision came as no surprise to the district, Dr. Kohn said.
   "I do know we knew about it, but we weren’t that happy with it," she said.
   Both districts sent out letters to the parents of high school juniors and seniors.
   Military officials came to Princeton High School last March and the school sent out letters to parents in April, informing them of the law and asking the parents to give their written permission, or written nonpermission, to give the military the information about their children, James Riordan, the district’s director of guidance, said.
   The school provided self-addressed stamped envelopes and gave parents a month to get the forms back. Mr. Riordan said some parents opted out.
   Mr. Riordan said the school always has had a good relationship with the military.
   "We treat them as we would any college representative," Mr. Riordan said.
   In an ironic twist, PHS has never heard from the military.
   "They never came back and asked us for our list," Mr. Riordan said.
   The military has asked the West Windsor-Plainsboro School District for student information, said Gerri Hutner, the district’s public information officer.
   "We sent letters to all parents of juniors and seniors from both high schools," Ms. Hutner said.
   "We did get some responses" from parents who wanted to opt out, Ms. Hutner said.
   According to a Pentagon spokeswoman, 95 percent of the nation’s schools are complying with the law. A U.S. Education Department spokesman said no schools have been sanctioned.
   Federal law requires men to register with the Selective Service System, which would administer a military draft, within 30 days of turning 18. The new provision helps the military reach potential recruits at an earlier age.
   Ms. Hutner said the military had not previously asked to come on campus to recruit students.
   Mr. Riordan said parents have little to fear from military recruiters.
   "My dealing with military recruiters over the years is that they’re not harassing people," he said.