Cover
story Feeding the military machine
CLAIRE SCHAEFFER-DUFFY
Chicago and Philadelphia
God may not be allowed in American public schools but the military
visits frequently and, in some districts, has set up camp. An increase in
recruiter access to public high school students, made possible by the new
education reform bill, and a dramatic expansion of Junior Reserve Officers
Training Corps, mark a significant growth in the Pentagons presence in
the hallways and classrooms of America.
Over the past decade, the number of JROTC programs has doubled
nationwide, from 1,500 units to around 3,000, and public military academies are
becoming popular options, especially in urban districts where truancy and
fights are rampant. Expenditures have tripled from $76 million in 1992 to
approximately $210 million.
Politicians and school administrators say the military, with its
uniforms and code of discipline, bring a much-needed cohesion to schools in
chaos. Critics argue the militarys package of goods, with its
pro-military career bias, is nothing but a thinly veiled effort to
recruit Americans at an ever-younger age, a charge the armed forces denies.
The militarys incursion into public schools, widespread and
deep, is undeniably altering the once strictly civilian tenor of public
education, as more classrooms become a forum for the Pentagons point of
view.
In Chicago, the U.S. Army has en-trenched itself in a public
school system that is overwhelmingly nonwhite (91 percent) and poor (85 percent
of the students come from low-income families), according to district figures.
Forty-four of the citys 93 high schools have a JROTC program. While all
branches of the armed services are represented, most of the units are Army-run.
One out of every 10 high school students wears a military uniform to school at
least once a week and those attending military academies wear them daily. The
city has 10 military academies; three operate independently, and seven function
as schools within schools.
Despite a federal statute restricting JROTC to a course offering
for students in ninth through 12th grades, 20 of Chicagos middle schools
have Cadet Corps, a modified version of high school JROTC. Alisha Hill,
principal of Evergreen Middle School where Cadet Corps is offered, said it
teaches kids about rank, armed forces, leadership, drill presentation,
flag etiquette.
Citywide, 500 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders, ages 11 to 14,
participate in this program that cultivates an early interest in high school
JROTC and the military. Last years field trip for cadets at Evergreen was
a tour of the Great Lakes Naval Station where students observed a day in the
life of a Navy recruit.
Primarily an afterschool program, Cadet Corps morphed into a
full-day military academy at Madero Middle School, located in a working-class
neighborhood that is 98 percent Mexican, according to Principal Rosa
Ramirez.
Nationwide, JROTC is in its biggest period of growth since its
establishment by Congress in 1916 as a program to develop citizenship and
responsibility in young people. This years defense authorization bill
removed the 2002 cap that limited JROTC units to 3,500, and all branches of the
armed services expect to increase their programs, if war doesnt cut into
funding.
After the riots
The four-year course, offered as an elective in lieu of physical
education at a traditional high school or as a requirement at a military
academy, comes with its own curricula and instructors, who are retired military
officers certified by the branch of the armed services they represent. Army
JROTC instructors receive their certification at Fort Knox, Ky., which is also
headquarters for Army recruiting.
According to the military, impetus for JROTCs growth in the
last decade came from Gen. Colin Powell, now secretary of state, after the Los
Angeles race riots in 1992. Powell, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
surveyed the ruins of southern Los Angeles and decided that what the
nations youth needed was the discipline and structure of the military.
Critics say JROTC expanded substantially in the early 90s because the
military needed more skilled recruits and youth interest in enlistment had
declined. As a recruiting tool, JROTC is undeniably effective. According to
defense department estimates 40 percent of all JROTC graduates enlist after
high school.
The militarys success in Chicago has led it to dub the city
the national leader for integrating JROTC into an urban education
system.
The expansion in Chicago has been exponential in the last
five years, said retired Army Lt. Col. Rick Mills, director of
Chicagos Department of JROTC, the largest subdivision of Education
Through Careers, the school systems vocational offerings.
A former squadron commander for the cavalry, Mills decorated
military career included three years, during the mid-90s, at U.S. Central
Command, the Pentagons coordinating hub for all military actions in the
Middle East. He retired from active duty in July 2001 and two months later was
hired by the Chicago public school system. He earns a salary of $103,000 plus
bonuses.
Interestingly, some of Chicagos strong-est supporters of
JROTC are civilians. Mills attributes much of the departments recent
growth to the vigorous backing of Paul Vallas, former CEO of Chicago public
schools, and the citys mayor, Richard Daley.
Mayor Daley would like to see JROTC in every
classroom, said Lt. Col. William Fletcher, deputy director of
Chicagos JROTC program.
Full of zeal
Energetic and full of organizational zeal, Mills aspires to
make Chicago the premier JROTC program in the country. His strategy of
expansion includes increasing cadet enrollment to 15,000 by 2007, streamlining
the certification process of JROTC instructors, and adding 11 new programs.
Three are slated to be full-fledged military academies.
Housed in the newly renovated Bronzeville Armory, Chicago Military
Academy is the citys pride and joy. The well-funded facility has shiny,
new halls, state-of-the-art equipment in computer labs, an energetic music
director and a truancy rate thats almost nonexistent.
The school day begins briskly with morning drill in the gym.
Students line up in Company A, B, C or D, each one organized according to
conventional military ranks, and march to rousing numbers like Caissons
Go Rolling Along. The states standard curriculum is taught, but
students are required to take four years of Army JROTCs leadership
training and many of the schools instructors are active or retired
members of the military, including three of the four history teachers.
Everybody has to be qualified under the state. We get as
many certified teachers who have a military background as we can, said
school superintendent Brig. Gen. Frank C. Bacon Jr., who bemoaned troop
deployment to the Persian Gulf because it is cutting into his teaching
staff.
Although the student population is 90 percent black,
African-American history is not part of the curriculum. Military history is.
Students learn a lot about the development of battle tactics and strategy, said
Captain James Patterson III, who has taught computers, political science and
world studies at the school.
Fifteen-year old Adrian Rodriguez loves Bronzevilles
spit-and-polish, disciplined atmosphere. Excellent. Everything is
excellent. Discipline is perfect. My grades have improved a lot, he said.
A sophomore with a buzzcut and an earnest face, Rodriguez is thinking about
joining the Marines.
Student Ashley Jennings, who also wants to be a Marine, gave the
school a more temperate review. Its like any other school, just
more disciplined, she said. Its pretty cool. The teachers are
a lot stricter. They teach you things about responsibility.
A curious mix
Located on the outskirts of south Chicago, Carver Military Academy
is an Army work in progress. Formerly a neighborhood school with an emphasis on
the performing arts, it is going to be the largest military academy in
the nation, said principal William Johnson. The Army began phasing into
the school three years ago.
Because of the transition, Carvers appearance is a curious
mix of civilian and military. The school still retains its civilian staff but
now has six JROTC instructors; two more are expected, and an additional
assistant principal, Lt. Col. Douglas Busch, referred to as the
commandant. Freshmen through juniors wear a uniform; seniors, the last to
graduate from the nonmilitary school, do not. Most of the hallways look like an
ordinary high school, but in the JROTC wing all the classroom doors are painted
in the pattern of Army camouflage. The wing also houses the Crimson Lounge, a
plush meeting room for military staff only.
The Armys arrival inspired Peter Bochta, teacher of World
Studies and African Studies, to plaster his room with recruitment posters. Two
hang in the entryway. One adorns his desk. There is even an ad for Army
enlistment flush up against an image of noted pacifist Martin Luther King. Atop
Bochtas desk stands a GI Joe model of a machine gun-toting Gen. George
Patton. Bochta heard the Army plans to name each classroom after a general and
he wants the Patton Room.
The militarys presence at Carver does not trouble Janice
Eason and Teresa Moore, two conscientious mothers who chose the school for
their teenage sons because of its impressive vocational program and safe,
constructive environment. The military regimen was an added bonus, they
said.
Eason gets up at 4 a.m. and takes three buses to send 16-year-old
Tieyawn to the school. She said many Carver parents chose the academy because
the military provides two desired goods -- discipline and opportunity. Eason
would like to see the military model introduced in grammar school.
Whats wrong with discipline? Who doesnt want to
hear their kids say yes maam, no maam?
With the
military aspect behind them they can go to the military and get college,
she said.
Neither mother supports President Bushs war plans on Iraq
but when asked if they worried about their sons being sent into combat, Eason
replied, No. Im a big believer in God.
Id worry about sending him into some of the Chicago
public schools, Moore added.
Still below average
As a neighborhood school in a rough area, Carver was plagued with
gang violence and poor academic performance. Today the students test
scores remain below average and the truancy rate is 20 percent, triple the
district average, but order reigns. Johnson said there has been a decline in
overt gang presence. There might still be a presence but it is not as
prevalent as it once was.
There has been a huge change, said chemistry teacher
Jaote Wawatu, who proudly announced that three Carver students were
entering the citywide Science Fair this year. The school is much more
disciplined, much more organized. If you have discipline problems, it is
handled differently, he said.
But its unclear whether the change in school environment is
directly attributable to the militarys code of discipline or
Carvers ability to now select its students. Considered magnet schools and
therefore not confined to teaching children in their geographic area,
Chicagos military academies can cull from the student population
citywide. While the academies are open to everyone, only those students
committed to wearing a uniform and a military regimen need apply. There is no
shortage of applicants. About 1,500 families applied to the academy in
Bronzeville, according to the school.
JROTC bills itself as a program that teaches good citizenship,
life skills and leadership training. The stated mission for Chicagos
Department of JROTC is Producing citizens of character and vision for our
nation. To a person, instructors vehemently deny that recruitment is part
of their agenda.
But critics say the program teaches followership
rather than leadership, a definition of citizenry that is highly militaristic
and skills that are not transferable to civilian settings. They say
JROTCs claim not to be a recruiting tool is a public relations ruse used
on school districts, and is not substantiated by internal military
communication. For example, an Army regulation states JROTC should create
favorable impressions toward the Armed Services and toward careers in the Armed
Forces.
At a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee in February
2000, then-Defense Secretary William Cohen describ-ed JROTC as one of the
best recruiting devices that we could have.
Nonetheless, Bacon, superintendent of Chicago Military Academy,
insists his school is a college preparatory institution.
Were not training them to go into the service. My goal
is to get them into college and help them get out so that four years from now
theyll be as vigorous then as they are now [during morning
drill].
The verdict is out on how successful the school has been in
fulfilling this mission. Opened four years ago, the academy graduates its first
senior class this June and is just beginning to keep records on post-graduate
career choices. Assistant Vice Principal Julius Pin said approximately
80 percent of the senior class is college-bound.
But high school senior Kenneth Adams estimates that a third of his
class is enlisting and said he had seen quite a few of his peers at the local
Military Enlistment Processing Station. Denied entry into the Marine Corps
because of his eyesight, Adams is now pursuing enlistment in the Army. Six of
seven Bronzeville students interviewed by NCR -- including Adams -- expressed
an interest in joining the military.
Our goal is that 55 percent of Chicagos JROTC
graduates will pursue postsecondary education, said Mills, who estimates
that 37 percent of all graduating cadets join the military after high
school.
Funded as a readiness program
JROTC was initially funded as a readiness program. A lot of
people dont think about it that way. They think of it as a leadership
program, said Oskar Castro, director of the Youth and Militarism Program
at the American Friends Service Committee, a national clearinghouse for
activists opposed to the military in public schools. Given the imminence of
war, JROTC could serve its original purpose of prepping potential recruits,
Castro said.
If a lot of our young people are wiped out, then you have
the next cadre of youth who already had some experience in military life,
he said.
Castro sees similarities between JROTC and Saddams Cubs,
Iraqi youth in training for war; although he admits the American version is
less militaristic. We cant look at Saddams Cubs, as U.S.
citizens, and say, Oh thats horrific, and not look at JROTC
as something in the same vein, he said.
Linking JROTC to military recruitment does not seem to register
great alarm among high school administrators, struggling to educate
underprivileged youth. In Chicago, many educators viewed the military in school
as a builder of student self-confidence, a doorway to bigger and better things
or, as an option for kids who have few choices.
There is the reality that not every child is college bound.
What do you do with that child? Johnson asked and then later said,
We do present it [the military] as an option, just as we present college.
Certainly we want to see the students go somewhere rather than see them not do
anything.
But Dennis Barneby believes JROTC is not an option public schools
should offer.
JROTC is not part of the Department of Education, he
said. It is sponsored by the Pentagon. Let it exist, but outside of our
schools.
In mid-January, Barneby, a retired social studies teacher from the
Philadelphia public schools, spoke against the proposed expansion of JROTC at a
hearing of the Philadelphia School Reform Commission. Paul Vallas, formerly of
Chicago and the new CEO for Philadelphia public schools, had publicly spoken of
plans to put JROTC in all neighborhood high schools, increasing the number of
units citywide from eight to 22. As a result of opposition, the school system
has since modified this proposal and current plans for high school reform list
establishing three military academies and one additional Army JROTC unit.
Barneby lauded Vallas effort to revive an underfunded school
system in which the arts and even vocational programs are grotesquely
lacking, but wondered why JROTC was considered part of this revival.
The question of why the U.S. military should have the right to run a
program in our schools is basic. There is no equivalent to this, he
said.
Claire Schaeffer-Duffy is a free-lance writer and member of the
Worcester, Mass., St. Therese Catholic Worker Community, which believes in
pursuing nonviolent solutions to conflict.
Last in a two-part series.
Related Web
sites |
American Friends Service Committee National Youth and
Militarism
Program www.afsc.org/youthmil.htm
Americas
Army www.americasarmy.com
Center on Conscience and
War www.nisbco.org
Central Committee for Conscientious
Objectors www.objector.org
Committee Opposed to Militarism
and the Draft www.comdsd.org
No Child Left
Behind www.nclb.gov
Selective Service
System www.sss.gov |
National Catholic Reporter, March 28,
2003
|