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Schools

Vets press for access to students

By DONNA WINCHESTER
Published April 19, 2006

	[Times photo: Scott Keeler]
	Korean War veteran Jesse Kern, left, and Judi Nelson, both of St. Petersburg, protest in front of the Pinellas County school administration building in Largo on Tuesday.

LARGO - A group of veterans on Tuesday took a message to the Pinellas County School Board: Students who are considering joining the military are getting the pros, but not the cons, from military recruiters who visit high school campuses.

About a dozen members of a local Veterans for Peace chapter handed out fliers before the board meeting urging district officials to let them provide students with "balanced information regarding the military."

The veterans moved to the street when a Pinellas schools police officer asked them to leave. Then they sat for nearly three hours awaiting their turn to address the board.

"The School Board has determined that military recruiters may enter schools to discuss military matters with the students," said Veterans for Peace member Dwight Lawton. "We, therefore, should not be denied access to students to discuss military matters simply because the School Board or school administration may disagree with our views on the subject."

The 50-member group has been trying to talk to students in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties for about a year, said Veterans for Peace member Linda Hubner. She said the group wants to give students information military recruiters keep to themselves.

"We want them to know the realities of joining the military, including the facts that their obligation to the military can be extended and that the jobs being promised to them may not materialize," Hubner said.

Board member Linda Lerner acknowledged that the district has a responsibility to make sure students are receiving accurate information on careers, including those in the military.

Board member Jane Gallucci agreed, but wondered if school officials could do the job.

"I hear what (the veterans) are saying, and I feel as a parent we need to have factual data for 18-year-olds to make that big, big decision," Gallucci said.

School officials in both Hillsborough and Pinellas have said the veterans' message doesn't correspond with school goals.

Veterans for Peace member Jay Alexander disagrees.

"We're just trying to educate kids on what they can expect if they decide to go into the military," Alexander said. "We want to make them aware of what they're getting themselves into."

The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires public high schools to give military recruiters the same access to students as colleges and businesses, making the issue thorny, Alexander said.

The act provides military recruiters with student records, including phone numbers and addresses. Schools that refuse access can lose millions of dollars in federal aid.

That's why the Pinellas school district is reluctant to allow Veterans for Peace on high school campuses, Alexander said.

But Lawton, a 75-year-old veteran of the Korean War, thinks the problem runs deeper.

"I think it's a turf battle," he said. "But meanwhile, parents are saying, "We don't want (the military) contacting our children.' "

After listening to the speakers, the board agreed the matter deserves serious attention.

"Just because there is a risk doesn't mean you choose not to invest," board member Mary Russell said. "But every citizen who considers the military as a career option has to consider what risk they're going to take."

School Board attorney Jim Robinson said he thinks the veterans have another agenda.

"I think what they want to do is counter the military recruiters," Robinson said. "Let's be honest about it."

The board will take up the matter at a workshop.

The board approved funding for a $1.2-million technology project that will provide mobile laptop labs and software to Pinellas Park Elementary School, Morgan Fitzgerald Middle School and Pinellas Park High School.

The board agreed to adopt a federally funded $1.9-million character education project that will focus on 27 elementary, middle and high schools.

The board approved a $1.5-million project to help develop vocational and technical skills of secondary and postsecondary students who enroll in vocational and technical education programs.

[Last modified April 19, 2006, 02:21:34]