A fellow Examiner, SF City Hall Examiner Melissa Griffin, posted an excellent account a few days ago of the JROTC situation, for those looking for background on the controversy.
There's one point in the background I would clarity. No Child Left Behind requires school districts to release students' contact information to the military or lose federal funding -- unless the student specifically, indivually, requests that his/her contact information be withheld.
The SFUSD school board looked into how to abide by the law (and not lose funding), yet make it as easy as possible for students to withhold their contact information. So the high school enrollment application has a "check here" box, placed prominently on the form, for students/families who do not want their contact information released. The district determined that "opt in" (as in check here if you do want the information released) wouldn't meet the letter of the law and would risk our schools' funding.
My own view, for the record, is that although I oppose the Iraq war and am generally not a big booster of the military (though I support our enlisted men and women), I have been convinced by students and parents that JROTC has benefited many students, bringing direction, stability and leadership skills into their lives. And the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy has not extended to our schools' JROTCs. A gay Lowell JROTC alum told me that PE was a hostile climate for gays and JROTC (which students were able to take to fulfill PE requirements) was his refuge.
So I would like to see JROTC stay in our schools.
Prop. V on San Francisco's November ballot is an advisory measure calling for keeping JROTC in our schools. Also, for the record, veteran school board member Jill Wynns, currently running for re-election, has been the board's stalwart supporter of JROTC in our schools, despite being (like me) a generally antiwar liberal who'd be a far-left radical in most communities. (Disclosure: I am supporting and volunteering for Wynns' campaign.)
Comments
Caroline - While I did not write about it, I came to believe through the timing of events leading up to the 2006 JROTC vote, that the controversey surrounding whether our "opt-in" versus "opt-out" processes for giving information to military recruiters around 2004 is what led to the JROTC vote. In other words it looks like eliminating the JROTC was kind of a way to legally get back at the military for the info issue.
At any rate, thank you for your kind words about my piece. And thank you for writing about this other important aspect of the JROTC issue.
Mark Sanchez and Eric Mar should be ashamed for trying to kill off this program for their own political ambitions. These School Board members who now want to be elected Supervisors in November are aiding the gangs by focusing on the elimination of the JROTC in our schools ... why haven't they put as much effort into making sure every student in Bayview/Hunter's Point, Chinatown, Western Addition, and the Mission gets a high quality education so that they can become all that they can be?
This is the website of the opposition to Proposition V: http://www.NoMilitaryRecruitmentInOurSchools.org
"And the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy has not extended to our schools' JROTCs."
That may be true, but LGBT cadets are denied college ROTC benefits as well as acceptance into military academies that non-LGBT cadets can receive. So why should we maintain a program that is a dead-end for the queer community? We should seek better and more proactive ways to address issues of homophobia in our schools other than isolating LGBT students from PE classes.
thank you for supporting proposition V. I am a student enrolled in JROTC regardless of the credit. The anti-jrotc site really ticked me off, that quote on there looks like it was changed from rotc to jrotc. what made me even more mad is that the picture they used. It disgusts me the exploit my classmates on that site. I hope they take it off
@Judy, no that quote was definitely in reference to JROTC. Insinuating that it was changed proves nothing.
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