President Bush's NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND ACT grants military recruiters access to students' private information without parents even knowing about it. With this access, recruiters can make unsolicited calls and send direct-mail recruitment literature to a young person. Schools that do not comply with this section risk the loss of federal funding.

However, also written into Section 9528 of the Act is the requirement that schools must notify parents and students of their right to "opt-out". Schools are obligated by law to remove a student's name from lists given to recruiters if that is requested by a parent or student. This is not widely known or publicized by high schools and most parents and teachers have never heard of it. The burden is on you to take the initiative and make the request in writing. Your high school principal or guidance counselor should be able to explain the local procedure to you.

As Veterans for Peace, we feel a moral obligation to make sure all Wisconsin parents know that the government may be trying to contact and influence their children regarding military service. This is especially crucial in light of the recent GAO (Government Accounting Office) finding of a 50% jump in the number of recruiter violations within the past year.