Speaking Truth to Power

Greyhawk

Not surprising news - the San Francisco school board wants to ban JROTC from the city's high schools:

If a school board decision stands, San Francisco would become the first city to remove a Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program.

Will they succeed? If so, it won't be due to a lack of opposition to their efforts:

Supporters view the elective course as valuable self-improvement — teaching them discipline, responsibility and leadership skills they say they do not get in other classes.

And who are these supporters? They are actual high school students - who are actually taking on the powers that be, attempting to circumvent the board's destruction of their program by fiat using the power of democracy:

Even as the debate went on and board members held their ground, students and their parents gathered enough signatures to put an advisory measure on the ballot asking voters to show their support for keeping JROTC.
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"It's helped me stand up for myself, have more confidence, and to fight for what I want," said Trina Mao, 16, standing on a corner in Union Square passing out fliers about the program.

They also say the arguments about the war in Iraq and the Pentagon's policy toward gays miss the point: The program in San Francisco is inclusive, with 90 percent minorities and 40 percent women, they say.

Some gay and lesbian student groups have come out in support of JROTC and the ballot measure, saying some of their members have found a home in the program.

The AP story also points out that "enrollment in San Francisco's JROTC has declined by about two-thirds in the past year." If the remaining third is "90 percent minorities" one could infer that the program has seen an exodus of "non-minority" students, leaving behind a group for whom the board feels no urgent need to support. Kudos to those students for taking it to the streets and taking on the man rather than passively submitting to the whims of a school board more concerned with their own political statement (or perhaps more concerned at the thought of a group of disciplined, self-motivated and hard-working kids in their school system) than with the future aspirations of a minority of students who don't subscribe to their worldview or don't "know their place" in the grand scheme of all that is San Francisco.

Perhaps unaware that a new administration will be in place in Washington before they can eliminate the program, one San Francisco school board member explained the reasoning behind the programs pending demise:

"It's a broader issue about the Bush administration and military recruiting through JROTC," said board member Eric Mar.

But as the story also makes clear, "If the aim is recruitment, however, JROTC in San Francisco is a failure. Only two of the 1,465 cadets there signed up for the armed forces after graduation in 2006-2007, the latest year for which numbers are available."

However, a more interesting statistic isn't provided. That would be how many Junior ROTC students went on to ROTC in college. While many JROTC students learn by experience that the military is not for them - a much better way to learn than by enlisting - many others take advantage of the college scholarship/stipend money available to qualified students, a consideration that may at least get them in the door of an academic institution they otherwise could not afford. Once established there, they can still opt out of ROTC later without incurring a service commitment should they so choose. Meanwhile, those who graduate college and pursue a military career will earn the new GI Bill - a benefit that will easily allow them to obtain an advanced degree upon completion of their military career.

Which is one reason why - outside of San Francisco - "...participation in JROTC has climbed steadily around the country, with additional funding approved by Congress. The program reached 3,351 schools and 503,306 cadets in 2006 — the latest numbers available from the Pentagon — and there is a waiting list of more than 700 schools that have requested JROTC."

For actual military recruiting news, we turn to the other coast:

Nine young men and women joined the Army Wednesday in a Times Square ceremony - just days before the Defense Department announces it reached its recruitment goals for a third straight year.

Two brothers from the Bronx enlisted together at the Times Square Recruiting Station, amid the hubbub of whizzing cars and hordes of pedestrians.

"It's a family tradition for us - we wanted to become something more," said Javier Rios, 23, who joined with his 19-year-old brother, Joseph.

Yosero Kim is a 17-year-old senior at Half Hollow Hills High School in Dix Hills, L.I. He'll head straight to basic training after he graduates.

"I want to serve my nation," he said.

The feds are expected to release enlistment numbers for fiscal year 2008 next Friday, but Army officials at Wednesday's ceremony said they've reached their goal of 169,500 for active Army, reserves and the National Guard.