Truth in Recruitment
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Under the No Child Left Behind Act, public schools are required to give the military contact information for their students unless parents submit an "opt out" form to the school.
Truth in Recruitment 2008
Chicago Public Schools Open the Door to Alternatives to the Military
By Darlene Gramigna, Program Director, Truth in Recruitment Program
The Chicago Public Schools system is considered the most militarized school system in the country. With 11 Middle School Cadet programs, 30 JROTC programs and 5 soon to be 6 military academies, one out of every ten students wears a military uniform to school.
In the past military recruiters have had unsupervised and unlimited access to the community high school, contributing to Cook County, Illinois being the 5th highest recruited county in the United States.
On January 23, 2008, after six months of discussions, presentations at the Board, local and national media, the Board of Education passed a new policy limiting military recruiters in the 125 Chicago Public High Schools. Also stipulated by the new policy is expanding the definition of recruiter to “entities that offer information on alternatives to the military careers.”
Chicago counter recruitment activists consider this policy, which goes intoeffect immediately, an opportunity to approach some of the most highlyrecruited schools in the area which have previously been difficult toapproach. The policy requires that all recruiters request permission from the principal to enter a school with 48-hour notice.
AFSC Truth in Recruitment staff including program associate, Sheena Gibbs along with IVAW member, Patty McCann, recent high school graduate, Jesus Palafox, parent Julieta Bolivar, along with local teachers, students, parents, veterans, lawyers and anti war activists who spoke at every Board of Education meeting from August 2007 thru January 2008 creating the climate and demand for this change. Although the Board did not take all of our suggestion in the development of this policy, it remains a good first step and an opportunity to utilize two new resources on alternatives to the military. The first "The Hook Up: Alternatives Guide for Illinois" was developed in Chicago for concrete solutions for Illinois residents. The Great Lakes Region has also created "The Hook Up Alternatives Guide" for Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin.
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