by Arlene Inouye

The United States military is deeply intertwined with the educational system in this country: the cozy relationship between the two is as normal as apple pie. For over 25 years a handful of organizations have addressed the militarism of public schools and highlighted alternatives—but since the invasion of Iraq, the counter-recruitment movement has exploded.

Counter-recruitment efforts rose to meet stepped-up pressure posed by the war in Iraq, but also because of challenges posed by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). NCLB, which President Bush signed in 2002, mandates that high schools provide the names, addresses and telephone numbers of secondary students unless parents explicitly “opted out” from doing so. NCLB also allows military recruiters the same access to high school students as college and career recruiters.

As a speech and language specialist at Roosevelt High School in East Los Angeles, I witnessed blatant military recruitment practices first-hand after NCLB was enacted. Uniformed military recruiters walked around the high school campus, freely talking to students, promising money for college and sign-up bonuses. National Guard calendars were posted on the walls of the counseling offices, “Go Army” key chains held the faculty bathroom key, large cut-out military figures were stationed in the hallway, Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) pictures and trophies were displayed around, and photographs of preschool children posted in the school office bore insignias of the Marine Corps.
In response to these and other blatant recruiting efforts, we formed the Coalition Against Militarism in our Schools (CAMS) in 2003. CAMS is a grassroots organization of teachers, students, parents and veterans set up to educate others about military recruitment in the Los Angeles area. We first presented our concerns to the Teacher’s Union and the Board of Education with the help of the Human Rights Committee of United Teachers Los Angeles. The Human Rights Committee designed a T-shirt, “A War Budget Leaves Every Child Behind,” and enthusiastically supported plans for a teach-in on the war and its impact on our schools and students.

CAMS began our counter-recruitment efforts at Roosevelt High School in East Los Angeles, long-rumored to be the most highly recruited school by marines in the nation. Roosevelt High is the second largest high school in the nation, with more than 5,000 students on a multi-track, year-round system in a working class neighborhood. More than 98 percent of the students are Latino/Chicano.

To limit recruiter access to students CAMS first clarified the military laws of NCLB for members of local school districts. We found that school districts, principals and school officials incorrectly thought that NCLB allowed military recruiters full and open access to school children, contrary to the student protections outlined in the California Education Code. They simply did not know that it was their legal responsibility, as school officials, to notify students of their rights to “opt out” of military recruitment efforts.
Secondly, we informed students and parents of their privacy rights to withhold information from military recruiters (by opting out of the NCLB and the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery–a “voluntary” exam that recruiters use to persuade students of their suitability for the military). Students and parents exercised their rights by speaking to the Los Angeles Board of Education about limiting the military’s aggressive pursuit of students at home and at school.

We also flyered schools with brochures, sponsored documentaries like the Veterans For Peace’s Arlington West: The Film, and provided students with information about other great possibilities that exist for their future outside of the military.

Four years after these efforts began, we can see the difference. At Roosevelt, the School Leadership Council passed a policy on military recruitment to limit military recruiting on campus to tabling once every three months. Military personnel/recruiters are also no longer permitted to approach students individually unless they have prior approval by the school administration. Since we began our “Operation Opt Out” project, the “opt out” numbers for Roosevelt have more than tripled, jumping from 267 in 2003 to 762 last year. Our work at Roosevelt High School has showed what can be done to shift the school culture away from militarism while offering students alternatives for their future.

For the past three years, CAMS has expanded its work from Roosevelt High to other middle and high schools in the greater Los Angeles area, connecting school staff, parents, student organizations and individuals with grassroots community and neighborhood organizations. Some parents and children have testified about their experiences. Spanish-speaking parents, for example, told interpreters about the number of unwanted phone calls they received from military recruiters. They explained that many of their children were involuntarily placed into the JROTC, and described the difficulty of getting them out. Armed with information such as this, we organized a large city-wide event and set out to inform the Los Angeles Board of Education about the military recruitment abuses occurring at many schools.
We also have broad connections to other states. For our “Adopt a School” project, our network encompasses the United Teachers Los Angeles teachers’ union, state and national unions along with over 35 organizations, 17 colleges and 50 high schools. This project works with a volunteer student, teacher, parent or community member who serves as a representative of CAMS at the school. We provide legal and district information pertaining to military recruitment and equip the representatives with proven strategies and a tool kit for action.

CAMS also encourages organizing in our schools, which includes strengthening existing groups and forming student activist Peace Clubs. Students have learned about their rights to pass out flyers and brochures that counter the military literature.

CAMS is a founding member of two new websites that provide information to students about their alternatives to military enlistment. The National Network Opposing Militarism of Youth (www.nnomy.org) is a national network of groups working to stop the militarization of schools and young people; Project Great Futures (www.projectgreatfutures.org) provides southern California youth with information about alternatives to military enlistment.

It is not easy to sustain a movement in our schools. It requires patience, a long term commitment, relationship–building and a united effort among activists, students and teachers. But change is not only possible; it is an imperative if we want a different future. Education, not militarism, gives us hope.

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Arlene Inouye works as a speech and language specialist in East Los Angeles. She is a founder of the Coalition Against Militarism in Our Schools, which received a grant from RESIST last year. For more information, contact CAMS, PO Box 3012, South Pasadena, CA 91031; www.militaryfreeschools.org.