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1. Speaking at school board meetings:

I use them as a public forum to bring up various issues, including the No Child Left Behind military recruitment problems. This is efficient as it is public, minutes are recorded which you should get a copy of, and all the top administrators are present. Remember the Superintendent of Schools is THE person in charge; principals just oversee buildings. Hold the Superintendent responsible and accountable whether s/he likes it or not, but be polite and respectful.

2. Written policy materials:

Read the written policy your school has on its website or other places; use their own words against them as necessary to protect students. Ask for the Student Handbook and Code of Conduct and they will sometimes reveal statements that you could make use of. For instance, by definition, the recruiters should be treated as a visitor at my school, but they were given special treatment instead. Point this out at a public meeting.

3. Research, read and know your subject matter:

This does worlds of good as you will have oodles more knowledge than the administrators. I really think a lot of them, if they were simply better educated on this subject (by us parents and students), might realize our concerns are legitimate and react more appropriately. Take information with you and read bits and pieces to them. Give the paperwork to the board clerk to be included with the minutes.

4. Realize your power base is very big:

This NCLB law states schools receiving federal funds must provide student directory information to the Department of Defense upon request unless a parent or student opts out in writing. Compare federal funds received by your district with local and state support. You will discover the federal funds are minor in comparison to yours. That provides you power if you make use of it.

5. Document military activity:

Some may feel this is too aggressive, but it is a very good idea to document what you can with photographs. I only photographed objects, not people, and went in the building after hours. There were military posters in the hall, bookmarks in the library, and several military displays, plus a bumper sticker on a bus. I did the work silently, which of course was noticed, but what can they say or do? Call the police because a mom is taking pictures of bookmarks? Never photograph a person, especially a student, without written parental permission.

6. Finding an ally:

I was lucky and found someone inside that was cooperative and an administrator. But it wasn't all luck as I also didn't demonize school employees. You should assume you can find students, teachers and with luck an administrator or two that agree with you. Don't lump them all together; it's not fair or realistic.

7. Be legal and persistent:

Join the ACLU and use them as a resource. You can accomplish a lot by chipping away at negatives one at a time. Pick ASVAB testing to start with as recruiters use the test to gain carefully targeted knowledge about each student that makes their job easier, so get rid of it, as it really serves the military's needs. Also, enforce "equal access" in that recruiters need to be in balance with what colleges do or they have more than equal access. Although the school could argue otherwise, staying firm in asking for recruiters to be cut back to what colleges do will often work with persistence and honest concern for students. Read the actual clause in the law; I think it supports what I am saying.

8. Stay away from the Principal's Office:

This will sound odd, but if you go into their office alone, you will regret it. For one thing, there is no witness to anything and that creates a negative situation for you. This advice has been learned the hard way, so please use board of education meetings instead. They will probably instruct you to see the principal, and the Superintendent may even try to belittle you, but you will have to tell them NO, you prefer an open format with witnesses. They will not like that, but they will adjust.

9. Be creative:

Lots of things can be done such as meeting with the librarian to make sure peace books are available, or bringing in a Veteran for Peace to speak at school if the building use policy allows, or helping students form a peace group, etc. Be creative and reach out for help at peace churches and others. I email articles into my board of education when I feel it's important to do so, which also serves to show them how much public negativity to recruitment in the schools is really "out there". (They won't be wild about you for any of this.)

10. Always follow school security and visitor regulations if you can figure out what they are:

Make sure you know what they are supposed to be by using the School Handbook and Code of Conduct to familiarize yourself with them. Those books may not be denied you as it is your right to have them. Just be warned: Homeland Security has created a nightmare of "secure school" rules that can be unpredictable and leave you with bewildering headaches over what is allowed and what should be allowed under the US Constitution. My school has not provided any of these rules to parents and so it is very hard to know the rules and equally difficult to have any access to students on-campus now that they are in place.