Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
October 16, 2008
Pg. 35
By Javier C. Hernandez
A new Department of Education policy that gives military recruiters centralized access to high school student data is drawing fire from the New York Civil Liberties Union, as well as some parents and students.
In the past, military recruiters were required to go from school to school to obtain student names, addresses and telephone numbers, sometimes encountering resistance from school employees and students.
Now, under an order signed last month by Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein, recruiters can access data from each high school simply by going to the Department of Education’s headquarters.
At a news conference on Wednesday afternoon, the civil liberties group criticized the change in policy, saying it opened the door to aggressive concentration on certain students.
“The D.O.E. is giving military recruiters a direct line to New York City’s children,” said Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the civil liberties group.
In a letter to Ms. Lieberman on Wednesday, the Department of Education said it had revised the recruiting procedures to add another layer of oversight. Under the new system, the letter said, department officials can scrutinize the number of students choosing to opt out and check to make sure no school has failed to distribute opt-out forms.
Centralizing the data also prevents military recruiters from holding impromptu recruitment sessions while on campuses to get student data, the letter said, and it reduces the flow of communication between military branches and schools that “often proved disruptive.”
Ms. Lieberman called on the city to delay implementing the new policy. She said the Department of Education had shown a “startling disregard for open government” by not asking for public input on the new measure, and she suggested that it solicit feedback for 30 days.
Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, schools are required to provide military recruiters the same access to students granted to colleges and prospective employers. Parents are allowed to block access to a child’s data by signing a form.
But Ms. Lieberman said the city had not made an adequate effort to inform parents of that choice, even though the Department of Education has been telling principals to send letters to parents and students about the opt-out option. The department’s Web site also includes the form, in eight languages.
October 16, 2008
Pg. 35
By Javier C. Hernandez
A new Department of Education policy that gives military recruiters centralized access to high school student data is drawing fire from the New York Civil Liberties Union, as well as some parents and students.
In the past, military recruiters were required to go from school to school to obtain student names, addresses and telephone numbers, sometimes encountering resistance from school employees and students.
Now, under an order signed last month by Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein, recruiters can access data from each high school simply by going to the Department of Education’s headquarters.
At a news conference on Wednesday afternoon, the civil liberties group criticized the change in policy, saying it opened the door to aggressive concentration on certain students.
“The D.O.E. is giving military recruiters a direct line to New York City’s children,” said Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the civil liberties group.
In a letter to Ms. Lieberman on Wednesday, the Department of Education said it had revised the recruiting procedures to add another layer of oversight. Under the new system, the letter said, department officials can scrutinize the number of students choosing to opt out and check to make sure no school has failed to distribute opt-out forms.
Centralizing the data also prevents military recruiters from holding impromptu recruitment sessions while on campuses to get student data, the letter said, and it reduces the flow of communication between military branches and schools that “often proved disruptive.”
Ms. Lieberman called on the city to delay implementing the new policy. She said the Department of Education had shown a “startling disregard for open government” by not asking for public input on the new measure, and she suggested that it solicit feedback for 30 days.
Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, schools are required to provide military recruiters the same access to students granted to colleges and prospective employers. Parents are allowed to block access to a child’s data by signing a form.
But Ms. Lieberman said the city had not made an adequate effort to inform parents of that choice, even though the Department of Education has been telling principals to send letters to parents and students about the opt-out option. The department’s Web site also includes the form, in eight languages.