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Coalition Against Militarism in our Schools

(CAMS)

Arlene Inouye

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Who We Are

ｷｷ A coalition of teachers, students, parents, veterans and community members and organizations united to demilitarize schools and present alternatives.

ｷA nonprofit organization based in Los Angeles.

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What is Militarism

By militarism we refer to the policies, practices, programs and school climate of the K-12 public educational system, that promotes and goes so far as to push students into the military without providing the alternatives.

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Recruiters in Schools

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School mascot

Garfield HS

LAUSD

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How Was CAMS Founded?

CAMS was founded at the onset of the invasion of Iraq by Arlene Inouye, a Speech and Language Specialist in Los Angeles who was deeply concerned about the aggressive and pervasive military recruitment on high school campuses.

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It’s a Poverty Draft

High school students in working poor communities in Los Angeles and around the country have experienced a dramatic increase in military recruiting activities and military programming after 9-11 and the Iraq War.

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Military recruiting Garfield High School

LAUSD

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Recruitment Takes Place in Many Ways

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Military Branding

Each year Hundreds of millions of dollars is spent on

Military marketing or propaganda including slick advertising ads

My Space campaigns, sporting events, video games and virtual reality tours etc

In addition the military has expanded their educational programs to include online test preparation programs, military academies and increased scholarship money

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Topic Two

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Topic Three

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Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is the second largest school district in the nation with 64 Senior High Schools and 72.8% of the students with Hispanic/Latino ethnic heritage (LAUSD Fingertip Facts 2007-8)

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What This Means

IN LAUSD and Nationwide, military recruiters have stepped up their efforts to increase the numbers of Latinos in military service. They are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. workforce.

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By 2020 their goal is to increase military recruitment up to 22% of the Latino population (It was 12.6% in 2006).

The army has a far-reaching strategy to attract Hispanics including advertising (i.e. Yo Soy El Army campaign), partnerships with Latino organizations such the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), and stay-in-school campaigns directed at Latino youth.

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In 2002, Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act for K-12 public schools

ｷｷ Section 9528 states that school districts must provide the names, addresses and phone numbers of secondary students unless an Opt Out form is received by the school.

ｷｷ Federal title I funding will be with held from school districts who do not comply.

ｷｷ Military recruiters are to have the same access to schools as college and career recruiters.

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The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery is a 3 ½ hour standardized test that has been given to public high school students since 1968.

ASVAB

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The ASVAB is

･ a joint program between the nation's schools and the military.･ a free vocational assessment

package･ the official entry test used by all

services.･ the military’s #1 recruiting tool.

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Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps

JROTCA military class often used as a physical education elective that is promoted as a leadership training program which develops discipline

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JROTC Policy Memorandum 50 on March 30, 1999 states:

“Purpose: To provide guidance on implementation of initiatives to enhance recruiting efforts with the U.S. Army recruiting Command.”

There are over 3000 programs nationwide affecting over a half a million students.

Students shoot guns, march and learn military history and behavior.

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JROTC violates California State Education Code mandates and

NCLB requirements

ｷｷ Students are involuntarily placed into the programｷ JROTC does not comply with physical education

requirementsｷ JROTC instructors are not certificated as teachers

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Military recruiters often have direct contact with high school youth depending upon whether the school and/or school district set limitations or parameters for recruitment.

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Recruiters often:

ｷｷ Make classroom presentationsｷTable monthly, weekly, dailyｷParticipate in career fairs, athletic

events, and special eventsｷHave access to walk around the school

and speak to individual students

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Why do youth enlist?

ｷｷ Money for collegeｷｷ Travelｷｷ Lack of jobs and optionsｷｷ Get away from hostile environmentsｷｷ Family Traditionｷｷ To heroically serve their countryｷｷ Discipline and physical challengeｷｷ Enlistment bonuses of $50,000 and other

benefitsｷｷ To be somebodyｷｷ For US citizenship

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CAMS has a multi-tiered organizing model that addresses militarism in the schools at the local, national and international level.

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Youth protesting at Carson HS, LAUSD

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CAMS local organizing efforts include:ｷｷ Adopt a School Project that identifies a point

person at 50 high schools in the Los Angeles area to develop appropriate strategies.ｷ Campaigns and actions including an Opt Out

campaign, leafleting schools throughout the year, forming student peace clubs, screening DVD’s and providing alternative resources and materials.ｷ Career Fair tabling and providing information

about alternatives such as green technologies, job training and apprenticeship programs.

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CAMS has a core of teachers and works closely with the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), a progressive teachers union.

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CAMS has addressed military recruitment violations and improprieties to the LA Unified School District Board of Education.

CAMS has successfully worked for student privacy on the ASVAB (scores not used for military recruitment), and increased the numbers of students who chose to Opt Out by 11% from 2004 to 2007.

CAMS provides education and information to the school community and demands accountability for military recruiters and the school district in relation to military recruitment.

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CAMS national organizing includes:

Developing a national network called NNOMY (National Network Opposed to the Militarism of Youth) www.nnomy to facilitate strengthening the counter recruitment movement in the United States.

CAMS provides workshops, resolutions and issues to the state and national teachers organizations (CFT, CTA, AFT, NEA) around militarism in the schools and alternatives.

CAMS gives direction and support to SWAN Servicewomen’s Network, www.servicewomen.org and United for Peace and Justice. www.ufpj.org

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CAMS addresses militarism in schools around the globe and networks with teachers who are opposing militarism in the schools.

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We have supported teachers in Japan who are resisting new militaristic mandates by the Tokyo Board of Education.

CAMS participates in the Tri- National Coalition to Defend public education and promotes international solidarity with teachers, workers, and students.

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Arlene Inouye visiting an elementary school in Kurume Japan

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For information contact us at: www.militaryfreeschools.org626-799-9118

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