HERE IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO, NOW:
http://www.NoMilitaryRecruitmentInOurSchools.org
Defeating AB 351 is key to winning the fight to get the military out of our schools. Please communicate immediately with your Assembly representative. Let them know that you expect them to oppose AB 351. This bill could be voted on at any time, so the time to ACT is NOW.
The most effective and quickest way to communicate with your Assembly person is to fax them a letter. If you represent an organization, let them know. If you can't fax a letter, then call their office. Follow that up by putting a letter in the mail, or sending an email, or both.
If you don't know who your Assembly representative is, or need contact information, check your local telephone book, or check online at http://www.assembly.ca.gov.
You will find attached a sample letter which you can print, fill out, and fax. Use it to help you craft your message. Feel free, of course, to add your own comments, or draft your own letter -- but... ACT NOW! Let us know what your Assembly person tells you.
JROTC, Physical Education and Assembly Bill 351
The San Francisco Board of Education voted over two years ago to phase out the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps. JROTC is scheduled to end this June at all seven San Francisco high schools.
JROTC is run by the Pentagon and their hand-picked military instructors. It is one of their primary military recruitment programs, aimed at 14 and 15 year old students. Ending this program in San Francisco will be a tremendous victory for those who believe that students this young should be getting a well-rounded education and learning critical thinking skills, not being subjected to military indoctrination, or the military's discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
JROTC and Physical Education. The military has historically been allowed to give physical education (PE) credit to JROTC cadets, enticing freshmen and sophomore students into the program. But bipartisan efforts in Sacramento in recent years have tightened up PE standards and curriculum, to counter the growing decline in physical fitness among youth. These new PE standards led State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell to issue a statement last year declaring that "JROTC programs do not fulfill California Education Code requirements for physical education."
San Francisco stopped giving PE credit to JROTC cadets this school year. Enrollment in the program has dropped from a high of 1,600 to about 500.
The Pentagon and its allies want to overturn the school board decision to phase out JROTC. San Francisco School board members Jill Wynns and Rachel Norton have introduced a resolution to keep the military program. But this resolution does not have the votes to win.
The fight turns on the PE credit issue. The school board will not restore JROTC if the program does not have PE credit, because the school district would be forced to pay one million dollars per year for just a handful of JROTC cadets. So this fight has moved to Sacramento. Three bills have been introduced in the Assembly in an attempt to turn the tide in the Pentagon's favor.
The most immediate threat is AB 351. This bill would reverse the bipartisan effort to fight the decline in physical fitness among our youth, and would dangerously weaken PE standards in California. It would allow school boards to ignore the health and safety of our youth, and allow them to grant PE credit to JROTC cadets.
AB 351 is now before the state Assembly, and could be voted on at any time. It is classed as an "urgency" bill. This means that it takes effect immediately upon being passed by both the Assembly and the Senate, and signed by the Governor. This also means that it requires a two-thirds majority to pass. The Pentagon is in a big hurry to save its San Francisco program before it ends in June.
This is a fight we can win, but it needs the help of every concerned person in California, right now.
MORE ON AB 351
State law requires that physical education (PE) credit only be given for classes that include PE curriculum and are taught by credentialed PE teachers. AB 351 creates several exemptions to this standard, allowing school districts to give PE credit to JROTC cadets, and to certain other classes that don't meet PE standards, such as marching band, drill team, color guard, and cheer leaders.
JROTC curriculum is controlled entirely by the military, not by school districts. In addition, JROTC instructors, all retired military officers, need only a high school diploma or G.E.D.
AB 351 is sponsored by Mary Salas (D-San Diego), Fiona Ma (D-San Francisco), and Michael Duvall (R-Yorba Linda). Salas is from San Diego, the most military of cities in California. Duvall is a Republican from Orange County. On the same day he signed onto this bill, Duvall introduced two other bills, one to "provide equal access to military recruiters at public school career fairs," and another to make it illegal to use "the names of fallen soldiers on political paraphernalia [think T-shirts] without the consent of the next of kin."
Ma is from San Francisco, but AB 351 is opposed by San Francisco's other Assembly representative, the popular Tom Ammiano. Ma recently made news by calling school board members who won't vote to restore JROTC "renegades." JROTC is opposed by almost the entire elected Democratic Party leadership in San Francisco, despite Ma's insulting and incendiary rhetoric.
OTHER STATE BILLS:
AB 554, authored by Warren Furutani (D-Long Beach), goes AB 351 one better, allowing JROTC cadets to skip not only PE classes, but also art and foreign language studies. Furutani's bill is currently scheduled for a hearing before the Assembly Education Committee on April 22. More on this bill soon...
Assemblywoman Ma has also introduced AB 223. This bill would require San Francisco to keep the JROTC program. It would make San Francisco the only city in the nation required by law to have JROTC. Ma's bill is a clear violation of local control of schools. The state should not be telling individual school districts what electives they must offer. Even many JROTC supporters oppose Ma's bill. It is currently waiting for a hearing before the Assembly Appropriations Committee, and has a good chance of being killed there.
MILITARY OUT OF OUR SCHOOLS!
NoJROTC@yahoo.com
510-326-1961
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