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School recruiting rules tightened


"It's not OK to come in and lie to our kids."

By M.L. Lyke

High school military recruiters who overstep lines can be kicked off campus, under revised policies adopted Wednesday night by the Seattle School Board.

Under the amended policies, recruiters for the military, for careers or for colleges who harass students, provide misleading or untrue information, or become disruptive may be banned from high school campuses for the remainder of the semester.

"It's not OK to come in and lie to our kids," said School Board member Darlene Flynn.

The new rule was part of a unanimous vote amending district-wide regulations on all campus visitors -- an attempt to standardize a jumble of individual school recruitment policies.

A survey this summer showed some high schools allowed military recruiters on campus once a month. Others allowed them to visit only once a quarter. The inconsistencies have confused both recruiters and recruiting opponents. "We agree there should be some standardization," said Maj. Forest Poole, with the local Marine Corps recruiting headquarters.

Poole said he also wanted to ensure that when recruiters are on campus that "it is a controlled, honest, non-hostile environment. The schools are concerned about that, and we are, too."

Seattle has been a hotbed of anti-recruitment activity this year. In May, Garfield High School PTSA became the first in the state to try to oust recruiters from campus. Shortly after, local colleges and high schools staged campus walkouts that temporarily shut down some recruiting centers.

Under the new guidelines, schools must adopt specific recruiting rules by Oct. 3. Those include how frequently recruiters are allowed on campus, and where they can set up. They'll be required to make advance appointments with schools, and schools will have to post calendars showing when those appointments are scheduled.

No one recruiter can visit a campus more frequently than another, and military recruiters must come in uniform.

The guidelines also ensure groups offering alternatives to the military service -- such as conscientious objector groups -- can have equal access to students, at the same time and same place.

Wednesday night's meeting at the John Stanford Center Auditorium was packed with concerned students and parents, some carrying signs that read "Rumsfeld -- hands off our students," "Don't die for a recruiter's lie" and "Money for jobs and education: not for war and occupation."

In emotional testimony, some parents and students complained that recruiters unfairly target low-income and minority children. "They are recruiting people of color to fight for a country that might let them drown in New Orleans," said Jeff Rice, leader of a Filipino youth group.

Many parents and students called for an outright ban on campus military recruiters, even though, under the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind Act, any school district that allows college and career recruiters but ousts military recruiters can lose federal funding.

"I don't see you're in a bind," student Guss Deisas told the board. "I really think you can just say we don't want recruiters in our schools. Ever."

But the district rejected a total ban.

Some district leaders argued an outright ban would rob students of opportunities offered by recruiters from various walks of life. "Our solution is not a complete ban ... but for students to hear from multiple sources -- the military and the countermilitary sources," said board President Brita Butler-Wall.


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— M.L. Lyke
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
2005-09-08
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/239866_schoolrecruit08.html

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