Yet again we have an attempt to militarize America's public schools. The most recent example had been the provision of No Child Left Behind which required schools to give access to student records unless the parents affirmatively opted out. This requirement was imposed on any high school receiving federal funds.
Senator John Cornyn has introduced amendment #5331 to the Defense Authorization Bill "blocking federal funds to any education agencies preventing access to the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps" (that labeling is from several different sites that track legislation affecting the US military). There are over 200 amendments pending to this in the Senate, and it is possible the Cornyn amendment will not be considered on the floor, should Senators Levin (chair) and Warner (ranking) decided to pass on it. But should it become part of the law, the implication are very serious. The text of the Amendment is apparently not available yet in Thomas (h/t decafdyke for this comment below). Below the fold I provide the text of an email from the National Youth and Militarism section of American Friends Service Committee that addresses this issue.
Will High Schools Be Forced to Have JROTC Programs?
If Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) has his way; the answer could be, "Yes!"
Call Senator Levin or your representative by Tuesday, September 16th and tell them
why this is wrong!
A few days ago, Senator Cornyn filed amendment No. 5331 to the Defense Authorization Bill which would block federal funds to any education agencies preventing access to the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps.
What this amendment appears to say is that the Department of Defense would no longer need to convince schools to voluntarily sign a contract to establish a JROTC unit. The DoD could simply dictate that the school shall accept it or risk losing federal funds. Or, if a student wants to take JROTC classes at another school because his/her own campus doesn't have a unit, the school would have to permit the excusal of the student to attend or transfer.
Many of us know that JROTC is "one of the best recruiting tools" the military has. If doesn't outright serve to recruit the body of a young person into the military, it recruits their consciousness to accept militarism which lends itself to an unchecked military and those who govern over it. JROTC masquerades as a program to help youth, but it is a thinly veiled child-soldiering project that replaces democratic values with militaristic ones. Nonetheless, schools and school communities
have had the right to decide whether or not JROTC is a moral, ethical, or financial fit for their institutions and if Senator Cornyn has his way the sovereignty of our public schools will be further eroded.
So, what happens if the enrollment falls below the minimum number of cadets that is currently required by the DoD to maintain a unit at a school? What if the school, school district or state makes a curriculum-based decision to deny cadets the option of receiving equivalent credit for other courses, like PE, and as a result the enrollment drops below the required minimum? Will schools be obligated to continue accommodating the remaining small number of students with the current JROTC requirement of a minimum of two instructors teaching the class?
What if the facilities don't exist for establishing and maintaining a JROTC course? Will the school be forced to spend the money to build the facilities or risk losing all federal education funds?
At present there are 230 amendments lined up for consideration, and the debate is supposed to take place next week, beginning Wednesday, September 17th. Clearly, the Senate can't debate all 230 of them. Senator Levin, as chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, will decide along with Senator Warner (ranking minority member) which amendments will get floor time. They'll bring a "cloture motion" to the floor on Tuesday evening that will very likely result in some amendments being dropped from consideration.
We'd really like Senator Levin to eliminate Amendment #5331 from the list.
We believe that if it goes to the Senate floor it will be approved with hardly any debate - like the "Solomon amendments" of earlier days.
Would it be possible for you to share a message with groups you know or any likely e-mail lists you can think of, asking them either
(a) to contact Senator Levin's office by Tuesday urging him to keep amendment 5331 off of the bill, or
(b) to contact their own Senators, if sympathetic - like Barbara Boxer and others - to urge Senator Levin to keep the amendment off of the bill.
The message could be something like this:
"The Senate may soon consider an amendment that would deny federal funds to any high school that declines to have a JROTC program - for any reason. Please call Senator Levin's office [or Senator XXX's office] before Tuesday, September 16 and urge him [or ask xxx to urge Senator Levin] to do what he can to keep amendment #5331 off of the Military Authorization Bill. [Senator Levin's office number is 202-224-6221"]
For all other Senators, you can visit http://www.senate.gov/...
or use the general switchboard # (202-224-3121) and ask to be connected to your Senator's office.
NOW is the time to contact your Senators and ask them to oppose this amendment by Tuesday, September 16th for the sake of our schools.
A few additional comments of my own.
I teach in a school with an AF JROTC program. I am not hostile to public schools having such units, but the willing to have them should be in the hands of the local educational agency (school board) and should not be able to be imposed by outside agencies. I strongly object to combining requirements about the military and other unrelated subjects as a condition of aid for receiving federal funds designed to equalize basic educational opportunities.
As far as I can tell, this is yet another example of a chickenhawk willing to impose on others what he would not do himself: there is nothing on Cornyn's website which shows that he ever participated in the military. He was born in 1952, which means he was old enough to have participated in Vietnam as a volunteer should he think military service is so important.
I hope you will consider contacting those senators relevant for you to strongly urge that this amendment be dropped from consideration.
UPDATE and a hat tip to decafdyke who found the text of the amendment in Thomas and linked it below in this comment
Thanks. and Peace????