opt out | DMZ Hawai'i/Aloha 'Aina

Student personal information will go to military recruiters unless they opt out

Post Date August 31, 2010

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Author Laurel Mei-Singh

Category Action Alerts and Events, Counter Recruitment, DMZ-Hawai'i / Aloha 'Aina In the News, Militarization of Society, The Military in Hawai'i (All Islands), Youth and Militarization

ALERT! All secondary students and parents should know about the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) military recruitment list opt-out form and deadline for opting out!

AFSC Hawai’i’s CHOICES project, Truth2Youth, Maui Careers in Peacemaking, and the Kaua’i Alliance for Peace and Social Justice have worked for years to get the Hawai’i Department of Education to improve its “opt out” procedures for the military recruitment list created under the NCLB. The forms were inaccessible and difficult to understand. Some schools did not notify students or notified students until after the deadline. And there were cases where parents opted out and the names were still given to the military.

According to the Haleakala Times, when students were first allowed to opt out themselves in the 2006/2007 school year, the opt out roll jumped from 1,913 the previous year to 21,836, nearly a quarter of the secondary student body.

This year, we received reports that the opt-out forms were in the registration packets as we had recommended. A teacher at Farrington reported that he had a 4-inch high stack of student-completed opt-out forms.

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http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/101860428.html#axzz0yDAYbaqs

Students given chance to remove names from schools’ list given to military recruiters

By Star-Advertiser Staff

POSTED: 09:51 p.m. HST, Aug 30, 2010

Students and parents at state middle, intermediate and high schools have until Sept. 15 to remove their names from a national list given annually to military recruiters by the Department of Education under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

The DOE has developed an opt-out form for military recruiting for students and parents, available for download on the DOE website. Students or guardians that submit the forms will have their names and contact information removed from a list sent to Inter-Service Recruitment Council in mid-October. Requests filed between 2007 and 2010 will be honored until the students leave the DOE system.

Request forms are accepted year-round, but may take longer to process if submitted after the Sept. 15 deadline. For more information, students and parents can call the DOE at (808) 692-7290.

Students need to be able to make informed decision on military service

Post Date September 02, 2009

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Author Laurel Mei-Singh

Category Counter Recruitment, The Military in Hawai'i (All Islands), Youth and Militarization

VIEWPOINT: Students need to be able to make informed decision on military service

By ANN PITCAITHLEY

POSTED: September 2, 2009

The federal No Child Left behind Act of 2001 contains a little-known provision that threatens the federal funding of any school refusing to turn over the personal contact information of students in grades 7 through 12 to military recruiters. This action is in violation of the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

Given the current economic recession, more high school age youth are considering joining the military. At this impressionable age, we must entrust our public schools with the responsibility to protect our children’s rights to privacy. Students and parents have complained of multiple cell and home phone calls from military recruiters as well as uninvited recruiters arriving at their houses.

The Hawaii Department of Education offers a form that parents or legal guardians can sign to prevent this release of student information. It can be downloaded at doe.k12.hi.us. The American Friends Service Committee also offers this form in 11 languages at www.afschawaii.org. Forms are due by Sept. 15, but will be accepted anytime during the school year. In mid-October, the Department of Education is required to turn over a student list to recruiters.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act also grants military recruiters access to campuses, with their presence far outnumbering college recruiters and prospective employers. Recruiting is currently a $4 billion industry. According to Army spokesman Douglas Smith, the military spent an average of $16,199 for each of its 73,373 recruits in 2005.

Youth advocacy programs such as Careers in Peacemaking (CIP) have been forming across the nation to provide youth with informed choices about military enlistment. We believe that before making this life-altering decision, a young person should be exposed to data from as many different sources as possible. Consulting with school administrators and teachers, we offer presentations in high school classrooms and attend career fairs to make known the realities of current military life and war, and to introduce nonmilitary sources of funding for jobs and college.

Maui CIP is fortunate to have a veteran, a Maui high school graduate who has served in Iraq, share with students his experiences regarding military service and war. Through my CIP activities, I have learned that most of our island youth have no idea what military service entails, despite the fact that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been going on for eight years of their lives. Many haven’t given much thought to the U.S. role in these conflicts. They cannot define “civilian casualty,” or “collateral damage.”

Almost all students that we have spoken to are unaware that enlistment is a mandatory commitment of eight years, or that their rank, assignment and length of service can change without prior notice or consent. They don’t understand the implications of giving up their civilian rights when they sign the complex enlistment agreement or how this can impact them if they are troubled by what the military orders them to do. They are unaware of the rates of veteran suicide and post-traumatic stress disorder. Female students know nothing of the high statistics of sexual assault on women in the military.

One of the most common reason youth enlist is money for college. Others sign up to give their life a higher meaning, to help others or to serve their country. Many see it as their best opportunity to travel. These are all valid reasons. CIP’s concern is that in the course of fulfilling these desires, the student can lose their life, become severely wounded, or suffer mental disorders including long-term depression and disillusionment over what they experience in the military or combat. CIP believes it is important that students are provided with facts, testimonies and alternatives.

One alternative is Americorps, which recently received a large boost in federal funding. It is our hope that citizens will understand that our goals are not subversive but merely to engage in meaningful dialogue with our island’s children to help them make informed decisions.

Ann Pitcaithley is the current coordinator of Careers in Peacemaking, a project of Maui Peace Action. For more information, see the Web site: www.mauipeace.org

Source: http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/523102.html?nav=18

Military Recruiter "Opt Out" Requests due Sept. 15

Post Date August 26, 2009

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Author Laurel Mei-Singh

Category Action Alerts and Events, Counter Recruitment, The Military in Hawai'i (All Islands), Youth and Militarization

News Release
Department of Education State of Hawaii

Contact: Sandra Goya
Telephone: 808-586-3232

Date: August 25, 2009

Military Recruiter “Opt Out” Requests due Sept. 15

The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires the DOE to provide names, addresses, and telephone numbers (including unlisted numbers) of secondary students to military recruiters when requested. Secondary school students are broadly defined as students enrolled in middle, intermediate, and high schools.

A student in a secondary school can, on his/her own, submit a signed, written request for non-disclosure of his/her information. Or the parent/guardian of a secondary student or an eligible student (18 years or older) can submit an “OPT OUT” request.

Although not legally required, the DOE has developed an “OPT OUT” form for military recruiting to facilitate response from students or their parents. The form can be downloaded from the DOE website at http://doe.k12.hi.us.

If an “OPT OUT” for military recruiters was filed with the school during the 2007-2008 and/or 2008-2009 school year, the most recent request will be honored until the student leaves the Hawaii DOE public school system or until the submitter rescinds the “OPT OUT” request.

“OPT OUT” requests will be accepted at anytime during the school year. However, the DOE is required to turn over a student list to the Inter-Service Recruitment Council (IRC) in mid-October. If a request comes in after student lists have been submitted to the IRC, the DOE Information Resource Management (IRM) Branch will inform the IRC to have recruiters remove the student’s information from the list.

Students or their parents should submit “OPT OUT” requests to school offices no later than September 15. Schools will distribute annual notices by the end of August 2009. For questions, contact the DOE IRM Branch (808) 692-7290, option #5.

-DOE-

New policy will shield students from some unwanted military recruiter contact

Post Date August 05, 2009

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Author Laurel Mei-Singh

Category Counter Recruitment, DMZ-Hawai'i / Aloha 'Aina In the News, The Military in Hawai'i (All Islands), Youth and Militarization

Good news! The State of Hawai’i Department of Education confirmed that starting this year all public schools in Hawai’i that choose to offer the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), the military-sponsored career aptitude test, must designate “Option 8” on the test that no student information or test results will be released to military recruiters. (See the memo from Hawai’i schools superintendent Pat Hamamoto below) Students may still choose to take the test and release their test results to the military. In order for a student to take the test and have it scored, the student must request an authorization form from the military recruiting office, sign it and turn it in.

In the past, students who took the ASVAB test routinely had their information and test results forwarded to military recruiters without their knowledge or consent, even if they opted out of military recruitment lists under the No Child Left Behind Act. Here is a list of schools in Hawai’i that administered the ASVAB in 2006-07. Parents and students in these schools might want to ensure that the schools are properly protecting student information and privacy if the ASVAB continues to be offered.

The tricky thing about the ASVAB test is that it is exempt from FERPA, the law that governs privacy of information in schools. So student’s (even minors) signing the test answer sheet (a requirement for having the test scored) are authorizing that their information would be made available to the military: “To compute and furnish test score products for career/vocational guidance and group assessment of aptitude test performance; for up to 2 years, to establish eligibility for enlistment (only for students at the eleventh grade or higher and only with the expressed permission of the school); for marketing evaluation, assessment of manpower trends and characteristics; and for related statistical studies and reports.”

Last year, in the wake of recruiter abuse cases at Kapolei High School, AFSC Hawai’i worked with parents, counter recruitment activists and other concerned community members on a campaign to educate the Board of Education about the problem and to call for changes that close this loophole in the ASVAB policy. We submitted model policies to the Board of Education and warned that the release of student information through the ASVAB tests were a violation of student privacy and a liability to the DOE.

As some predicted may happen, a parent from Kona threatened to sue the DOE for the release of his son’s information to recruiters even after opting out of the No Child Left Behind military recruitment lists. In this case, military recruiters had invited several youth to a pool party and told them to lie to their parents about their whereabouts. When parents found out that their children had signed up for the Marine Corps at this “pool party”, they were obviously quite upset.

The combined pressure led to the DOE adopting a new policy to make the “no release of student information” option the default on all DOE sponsored ASVAB tests. This parent had given us an early notice of these changes, but this is the first public confirmation we have seen.

Thank you and congratulations to all who testified and advocated for protecting the rights of youth and parents. This is a big win for peace advocates and an important measure to protect students.

Also, please note that the deadline for opting out of No Child Left Behind military recruitment lists is September 15, 2009. The notification will not be as widely distributed this year. So please help to inform students and parents of their right to protect their privacy from military recruiters.

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STATE OF HAWAII
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
P.O. BOX 2360
HONOLULU, HAWAII 96804

D A T E
08/05/2009 Action Required
Originating Office: Office of Information Technology Services,
Branch: IRMB

TO:
Complex Area Superintendents
Principals (all)
School Counselors
Testing Coordinators Due Date:
c:
Assistant Superintendents
Superintendent’s Office Directors
Deputy Superintendent
Charter School Administrative Office
Office of Curriculum, Instruction and Student Services
Office of Information Technology Services

F R O M:
Patricia Hamamoto, Superintendent
Office of the Superintendent

SUBJECT: ARMED SERVICES VOCATIONAL APTITUDE BATTERY (ASVAB) TEST ADMINISTRATION IN THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (DOE) SCHOOLS

The ASVAB test is a voluntary aptitude test available to high school students. The results of the ASVAB test provide career/vocational guidance and establish eligibility for enlistment into the military.

Effective immediately, all DOE schools that administer the ASVAB test will choose “Option 8” for test administration. This option means that no student information will be released to the military services through the ASVAB test unless a student chooses to opt-in. Schools may also choose not to administer the ASVAB test.

The ASVAB test administration requires a student who chooses to take the test to sign a privacy act statement which reads, “Purpose: To compute and furnish test score products for career/vocational guidance and group assessment of aptitude test performance; for up to 2 years, to establish eligibility for enlistment (only for students at the eleventh grade or higher and only with the expressed permission of the school); for marketing evaluation, assessment of manpower trends and characteristics; and for related statistical studies and reports.” Without the student signature on the privacy act statement, his/her test will not be scored. School principals must be aware of this and notify the student and parent that they must opt-in for release of information in order to take the ASVAB test.

Students who opt-in to take the ASVAB test will be allowing their personal information to be released to the military through the ASVAB test and to be contacted by a military recruiter. Students who wish to opt-in to take the test must visit their local military recruiting office for the appropriate forms to do so. Attached are sample copies of the Form 680 to opt-in and Page 2 of the ASVAB test answer sheet.

If you need further assistance, please contact Karl Yoshida, Director, or Helen Uyehara, Information Specialist, Information Resource Management Branch, at 692-7263, or via lotus notes.

PH:HU:mc

Attachments

ASVAB answer sheet, pg2

Form 680 to authorize release of ASVAB information to military recruiters

NYC schools to limit recruiter access to students

Post Date May 21, 2009

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Author Laurel Mei-Singh

Category Counter Recruitment, Youth and Militarization

May 20, 2009

In a Switch, City Tells Schools to Monitor On-Campus Military Recruiting

By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ

Schools will be required to provide military opt-out forms to 9th- and 10th-grade students and to develop a plan to monitor on-campus recruiting by the armed forces, according to new guidelines announced by the city’s Department of Education on Monday night.

The requirements, set to go into effect this fall, follow months of criticism from civil liberties groups, which had pushed to curtail recruiters’ access after school officials decided last year to give military recruiters access to a central database of students’ names, addresses and telephone numbers. Previously, recruiters had been forced to go from school to school to collect students’ data.

The new guidelines extend the requirement to include opt-out forms in orientation packets to younger high school students; in the past, only 11th- and 12th-grade students received the forms. The Department of Education will also add information on opting out to its instructions on their rights and to materials for students who take an armed services aptitude test.

Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, praised the changes, which include a requirement that principals appoint a staff member to oversee a military recruiting plan for each school. Ms. Lieberman said that too often there was not enough oversight of the recruiters and that in some cases they were too aggressive.

“They are not to get unfettered access to the students in the school,” she said. “They have to be regulated.”

The Manhattan borough president, Scott M. Stringer, who had also lobbied education officials to make the changes, called the guidelines “real and substantive.”

“This is really going to protect our kids,” he said.

Last year, when the city’s decision to centralize the recruiting process drew an outcry from civil liberties advocates, the Department of Education defended the change. Education officials said it would allow the city to improve its monitoring of students’ use of opt-out forms and tell schools with unusually low numbers to make sure they were being properly distributed.

Last fall, the number of students submitting opt-out forms increased to 45,717, up from 38,227 in 2007 and 22,357 in 2003, according to data released at a meeting of the city’s Panel for Educational Policy on Monday night.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/20/nyregion/20recruit.html