Where DFA Meets the Anti-war Movement: Leave My Child Alone!by Rebecca Romani, LeftTurn.org
What happens when a warmongering government starts preying on its children? The grassroots organize to stop it, that's what.
It looked like any average parent meeting with a sprinkling of twenty-somethings and senior citizens, complete with pizza, fries and speakers. But for these people coming out to a pizza parlor on a weeknight, the main attraction was not the food but an earnest discussion of the presence of military recruiters on high school campuses and a little known document called the “opt-out” form.
The almost 100 people who turned out in the San Diego region, a heavily militarized area home to a Marine base and Navy Seals, were part of a nation-wide call to meet on the first day of June, put out by MMOB, The Main Street Moms Operation Blue. MMOB, a relatively new grassroots group, is taking a page out of the Howard Dean playbook and rallying people though a well-orchestrated internet campaign.
According to Charlie Imes, chair of the local chapter of Democracy for America (DFA), the MMOB contacted him and asked him to put the Military Recruiter discussion at the top of the night’s agenda. “They asked and I said great,” said Imes, who was enthusiastic about the night’s turnout.
Twenty miles north in Carlsbad, dozens of people turned out to hear speakers and to fill out opt out forms, according to Jeeni Criscenzo, a member of the North County Peace and Justice Coalition who coordinated the event with MMOB.
The opt out form is provided for in section 9528, A, 1. of the No Child Left Behind Act, in part, because schools receiving federal funding are required to provide the following:
"1) ACCESS TO STUDENT RECRUITING INFORMATION- Notwithstanding section 444(a)(5)(B) of the General Education Provisions Act and except as provided in paragraph (2), each local educational agency receiving assistance under this Act shall provide, on a request made by military recruiters or an institution of higher education, access to secondary school students names, addresses, and telephone listings…” in addition to granting recruiters physical access to the campus or lose much needed federal funds. (Source)
The opt out form makes the child’s information unavailable to military recruiters and puts the child on a do not call list. Federal law requires school districts to inform parents about the opt out form. While some school districts list the form on either the school district website or the high school website, the San Diego school district does not.
A brief glance at MMOB’s site (www.themmob.org), showed at least 20 such meetings planned for June 1, from Bakersfield to Boston.
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