Milwaukee: Blow to recruiters

On Aug. 25 the Milwaukee School Board voted to increase awareness in the school district and provide more information to parents about the “opt-out” provision in the “No Child Left Behind” act. The admin istration also pledged to review military recruiters’ activities. (www.jsonline.com)

The act dictates that the Pentagon automatically receives student information inclu d ing names, addresses, telephone num bers and emails—unless parents, or a student 18 or older, submits an opt-out form.

As the vote took place, Riverside students and those from Wauwatosa and Shorewood high schools, which are not part of the Milwaukee district, hoisted “Edu cation not Militarism” signs. These students and their allies are fed up with military preying techniques and the U.S. war on Iraq.

Forty-four soldiers from Wisconsin, most between 18 and 30 and largely from formerly unionized industrial manufacturing areas, have died in Iraq.

The Milwaukee struggle takes place amid growing counter-recruitment activity across the country. In fact, this is fast becoming a central pillar of the anti-war movement.

Although the final board resolution was a watered-down version of one originally submitted by progressive board member Peter Blewett, it is a victory nonetheless. At the very least it’s a move toward educating the wider public about the law’s opt-out provision and about actual recruiting techniques.

Blewett’s resolution would have limited recruiters to three days of visits per school year.

“One of our fundamental obligations is to protect the privacy of students and their families,” said Blewett. He voted in favor of the final resolution along with the eight other board members present.

The final resolution directs the district leadership to make available to parents the opt-out information, and to outline all “cost-effective” means of providing this to parents. The school board estimates that currently less than 1 percent of students or parents in Milwaukee exercise their opt-out right, largely because they don’t know they can.

Before the Aug. 25 vote, over 60 people attended the Aug. 23 Milwaukee School Board’s Rules and Policy Committee and 18 testified in favor of restrictions on recruiters. No military recruiters or their supporters attended.

Students from the working-class and majority students-of-color Riverside High School testified about the recruiters’ sexist behavior, and their aggressiveness and focus on recruiting African American and Latin@ students.

Because of the students’ and their allies’ actions, School Superintendent William Andrekopoulos said at the meeting that he would “investigate” the recruiters’ activities in city schools.

It will now be up to the counter-recruitment movement to hold the board accoun table and see to it that real action is taken.