Confronting Military Testing in the High Schools
With 11,900 high schools administering the ASVAB last year, most in direct violation of federal and state laws, and more than 1,000 schools forcing students to take the test without parental knowledge or consent, it's not difficult enlisting the support of rational school officials to re-examine their policies toward military testing.
Nationally, 92% of the 621,000 children who took the 4-hour military test had their results and personal information forwarded to military recruiters. The pentagon is circumventing federal and state laws while administering this test in order to gain sensitive private information without parental knowledge. Unscrupulous recruiters are then able to make calls to unsuspecting youth, using a rich treasure-trove of data gained from the administration of the ASVAB.
Confronting militarism and military testing in particular is a complicated undertaking. Complex social, political, cultural, demographic, economic, military, and religious currents converge in this endeavor, creating a need to master the three-hour course below, Confronting Military Testing in the High Schools - 101. The only prerequisite for enrollment is steadfast determination.
Ready to begin?
View the power point presentation found above. Is it shocking that military testing in the schools is so pervasive? Most Americans are pretty complacent and very few are political activists. Fewer still are committed to fighting rampant militarism or protecting privacy rights. Most don't have a clue what the ASVAB is or how it is used as one of the military's most effective recruiting tools but that's changing.
Read this article by Dan Hardy of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Mr Hardy filed a FOIA against the DoD and was able to land a ton of statistics regarding the 11,900 schools that offered the test.
First, read Mr. Hardy's excellent piece that ran in August of '08:
Growing Hesitancy over a Military Test
Dan Hardy missed an important part of the equation, however, and that has to do with mandatory testing. 60,000 students in more than 1,000 high schools across the country were forced to take the ASVAB and had their information shipped to recruiters, many against their will and without parental knowledge.
What should you do?
You need to determine if the pentagon is forcing children to take the ASVAB in your town. It's an easy practice to stop. A letter to your local superintendent with a copy to your local paper has been known to do the trick.
Examine the database acquired by the Philadelphia Inquirer from the Pentagon:
Pentagon ASVAB Database
To make sure you understand the column marked “restrictions” in the database furnished by the pentagon, check out USMEPCOM Regulation 601.4 Personnel Procurement Student Testing Program 25 July, 2005, pages 12 & 13 for an explanation of the various options available to public school systems regarding ASVAB release options:
USMEPCOM 601-4
Unrestricted Recruiter Contact corresponds to Option 1
No contact prior to 60 days corresponds to Option 2
No contact prior to 90 days corresponds to Option 3
No contact prior to end of school year corresponds to option 5.
No Recruiter Access corresponds to Option 8
Your job is to master this material and convince school officials to select ASVAB Option 8. You're simply arguing that the school should be abiding by federal laws that protect student privacy. If the school superintendent argues that there's a value in offering the ASVAB because it may be used to help students determine career paths; that's fine, as long as the school (or school system) selects Option 8 to insure that the test is not used as a recruiting tool.
It's all about getting schools to select Option 8.
This is not about politics or imperialism or war. It's about privacy and a constitutional clash between an overzealous federal agency and the rights of states and individuals.
For more on the illegal nature of ASVAB testing, see this brief by the National Lawyers Guild, Los Angeles Chapter. NLG Brief
If you're truly committed to reversing the militarization of American youth, this is a great way to go. It's effective and it is quantifiable and we're winning battles across the country. See the ASVAB Letter Template below.
For more information:
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Send a Letter to Your Superintendent & School Board
Act Now to Protect the Privacy
of High School Students in Your Community!
Join activists across the country by demanding that local school officials protect the privacy of high school students who take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery,(ASVAB). Use the sample below to create a letter to send to your school superintendent and school board members. It's important to send the letter to school board members because there's a good chance one or two may be fairly progressive.
ASVAB LETTER TEMPLATE
------------------------------------------Copy & Paste-----------------------------------------------------
Your Town, US
DATE
Superintendent of Schools
Address
Dear Superintendent ___________________:
We are writing to ask you to protect the privacy of students in the ________ Public Schools who take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, (ASVAB).
Although ___________ Public School System promotes the ASVAB as a voluntary "Career Exploration Program" administered to juniors and seniors, the US Army Recruiting Command's School Recruiting Program Handbook says the primary purpose of the ASVAB is to provide military recruiters "with a source of leads of high school juniors and seniors qualified through the ASVAB for enlistment into the Active Army and Army Reserve." See page 6: http://www.usarec.army.mil/im/formpub/REC_PUBS/p350_13.pdf
Unless a school district takes measures to protect student privacy, the data from the ASVAB is automatically forwarded to military recruiting services. This practice runs counter to the opt-out provision of Section 9528 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, and may violate (your state) law regarding student privacy.
Children who sit for the ASVAB are required to sign a "Privacy Statement" that gives permission to the military to use private information and test results for recruiting purposes. See DoD Form 1304-5AS:
http://www.nnomy.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=74&&Itemid=147
This form is usually signed by students without the consent of their parents, a practice that may run counter to (your state)laws that protect the privacy rights of minors. (See this brief by the National Lawyers Guild, Los Angeles Chapter.)
http://www.nlg-la.org/Final%20ASVAB%20Memo.pdf
In the last few years, several of the nation's largest school systems, including Montgomery and Prince George's Counties in Maryland and the Los Angeles Unified School District have taken steps pursuant to military regulations that allow for the administration of the test but preclude test data from falling into the hands of military recruiters.
The U.S. Military Entrance Processing Command identifies 8 options schools have regarding the administration and release of ASVAB information. These options range from Option 1, which permits test results and other student information to be released to military recruiters without prior consent, to Option 8, which requires active consent to release the ASVAB test results and private information. School officials typically cite the importance of ensuring student privacy when selecting Option 8. Inaction on the part of a school system will cause the military to automatically select Option 1.
Many districts also require students to have a signed parental permission form to take the test.
See USMEPCOM Regulation 601.4 Personnel Procurement Student Testing Program 25 July, 2005, pages 12 & 13 for an explanation of the various options available to public school systems: http://www.mepcom.army.mil/publications/pdf/regs/r-0601-004.pdf
Sincerely,
________________ for so & so peace group
cc: School Board members
