I Remain On The Pavement Thinking About The Government

So last night's entry came after a bit of research into protocol and legality of military recruiters in high schools. I learned a coupla things.

1. No Child Left Behind requires that the school release student information to the selective service (read about that here). This sets the stage for the relentless phone calls to the homes of my kids by recruiters.
2. Read a bit further into the information on the US Govt site and note that it says that high schools are "to give military recruiters the same access to secondary school students as they provide to postsecondary institutions or to prospective employers". This says the same access. Same, not preferential. Are universities able to walk into my classroom and pull out students unsolicited? Do they troll the cafeteria at lunch? Demand to park in the library to see who passes through?

The answer is no, they do not. I will refrain from going all political (if you want to get all political, however, go here). The point is this, my classroom is sacred. I am not one of those teachers who hit the roof any time a note is delivered or an assembly held. I know that part of high school is learning to live and function in community. I know this. But for the sake of all that is good and holy, if you can't get these kids at home, lunch or the malls and movie theatres you frequent, they might not want to join you.

Or perhaps they just want to learn MLA citation first.