Some talk has surfaced lately about the NCLB. Barack has mentioned it in speeches saying that the No Child Left behind law left the money behind. I wanted to point out that there are other provisions of the law that also need scrutiny and review.
No Child Left Behind, Subpart 2, Section 9528 requires that school districts release the names, addresses and telephone numbers of juniors and seniors to military recruiters upon request unless an opt-out form is signed by the student's parents and returned.
The part that I have concern with is that the law upon request from the military requires the release of that information without giving the school or school district any choice in the matter. When this law went in to effect a few years ago it suddenly became mandatory for the schools to provide military salesmen with lead lists. This is an issue that the school board should decide whether or not it is in the best interest of their students. It should not be federally mandated.
It concerns me that there may be efforts to remain quiet about the opt-out forms. How much emphasis is placed on getting these forms out to the students’ parents and then seeing this process through? Who bothers to cross-check the sometimes massive lists with notes from Mom and Dad? It seems to me that there are many possible pitfalls for parents who choose to op-out.
I would like to see Subpart 2, Section 9528 changed to state that the school district has the option of supplying recruiters with lead lists if the school board so agrees. This will give the parents an opportunity to go to the board and state their feelings concerning military salesmen hounding their kids. As it stands, the parents have no option besides an opt-out form that may or may not achieve their desired result.
A backdoor to the student's info:
The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is a voluntary military placement exam used as a general aptitude test for career options. The ASVAB skirts parental rights by giving incomplete information to parents and by releasing private information to military recruiters without parental consent. Military recruiters can use the ASVAB to ignore the opt-out process. No Child Left Behind, Subpart 2, Section 9528 should include language prohibiting the schools from making ASVAB testing mandatory. It should include language strictly monitoring the use of private information include social security numbers obtained through ASVAB testing.
I advise parents to become involved with this process.
P.S., after Iraq, I would very much like to see the army get smaller, not bigger like most everyone is saying. Obama has said that the army needs to be bigger because of the need for relief from repeated tours in Iraq. End Iraq, and there should be no reason to increase the size of the army. A bigger army begs for a chance to use it. A bigger army points us to more war.