From left students Steven Zheng Anthony Truong and Roger Vien campaign for a ballot measure supporting JROTC in San Francisco.
The fight to keep Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps programs in San Franciscos high schools is far from over despite a last-minute push by veterans groups across the country. And who ultimately wins the battle could determine the future of the program in many cities throughout the U.S.
Pentagon officials calling JROTC an important academic and citizenship program for high school students say theyre hopeful the program will be saved. But they also say there are 700 schools in the country that are waiting to adopt the program if San Francisco drops it.
Opponents of JROTC programs meanwhile say educating students should remain a role for civilians and not for retired members of the armed forces.
The kerfuffle by the bay began two years ago when San Franciscos school board voted to phase out JROTC progams by the end of the 2007-08 school year citing recruitment concerns and the militarys policy toward gays.
The program was extended for another year but last June under threats of a lawsuit for not enforcing tougher state education standards the school board voted to stop granting gym credits to JROTC students and to offer JROTC as an elective course only.
Immediately enrollment in JROTC dropped dramatically.
But a state assemblywoman Fiona Ma a Democrat from San Francisco recently submitted legislation that would reinstate JROTC at seven of the citys public schools and overturn the original decision by its Unified School District to phase out the program.
Hats off to Fiona Ma to try and save this program said Jay Agg a spokesman for AMVETS a group of 180000 U.S. veterans. We hope shes successful itd be a real shame to deprive students in San Francisco or any other city the opportunity to reap the benefits of the program.
Among those benefits Agg said are the instruction of several key life skills including positive values and morals strong leadership and community service.
Youre taking advantage of an opportunity to teach morals and honor and discipline and love of country Agg said. You want them to learn at a young age to be a good leader.
Mas bill which passed out of an education committee last week by a 6-3 vote now heads to the states Appropriations Committee. Assembly Bill 223 would then require a two-thirds vote in the Leglislature to take effect immediately. Pentagon officials continue to monitor its progress.
We are hopeful that the School Board will realize that JROTC is an important academic and citizenship program for high school students ensuring the students currently enrolled will continue to benefit from the program Eileen Lainez a Pentagon spokeswoman told FOXNews.com in an e-mail.
If however the Board declines to reverse its decision there are approximately 700 schools on the waiting list to receive JROTC programs.
State Bill 601 which fortified physical education standards in California and was enacted last January requires the California Department of Education to monitor to what extent schools provide physical education instruction by gym teachers who hold appropriate credentials.
Last June facing allegations that it was illegally granting physical education credits for JROTC classes the San Francisco school board members voted to eliminate the gym credit.
Since none of our JROTC instructors hold appropriate physical education credentials thats one factor the board took into consideration spokeswoman Gentle Blythe told FOXNews.com.
Blythe also noted that State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack OConnell wrote a letter last April to Col. Michael Johnson who oversees Californias JROTC programs stating that JROTC classes do not in most cases fulfill the states requirements for physical education.
Enrollment in the citys seven JROTC programs which had already dropped from 1600 students in 2006-07 to 1050 in 2007-08 sank to about 500 this year once the phys-ed credit was removed.
Ma claims the decrease in enrollment has coincided with the school boards decision to eliminate the gym credit. The Department of Education was unable to provide statistics on the number of schools that offer physical education credits for JROTC programs but at least two states Florida and Alabama specifically list ROTC programs as an option for fulfilling the requirement.
In other cities like Chicago which has at least 34 JROTC programs at city high schools students receive physical education credit for participation said Frank Shuftan a spokesman for Chicago Public Schools. In New York students do not according to Department of Education spokeswoman Margie Feinberg.
Established by Congress in 1916 JROTC was an Army program before it was expanded to all branches of the armed forces in 1964. The program is now the Defense Departments largest youth development program with more than 480000 students enrolled nationwide in about 3400 secondary schools. In 2007-08 alone Lainez said those students performed more than 7 million hours of community service.
Agg said the programs also provide invaluable health benefits to students.
At a time when obesity and physical fitness are such important issues in America this is not the time to be cutting back on physical education he said. Its a critical area and an important education piece and JROTC does have a physical fitness element to it.
For many years Lainez said Pentagon officials have been concerned with the growing trend of obesity among U.S. teenagers.
As such JROTC has strengthened the Physical Education Health and Wellness programs to help combat this national problem Lainez said in an e-mail.
Vicky Chung a senior at San Franciscos Lowell High School told members of the Assembly during an April 1 hearing that the citys school board was not thinking critically when it voted to end JROTC programs that she said have taught her the importance of a higher education.
Please please please use your power to intervene on our behalf Chung said according to prepared remarks. I feel as if Im back in the 50s and 60s fighting for my civil liberties when the suppressors continue to force policies on me limiting my freedoms my rights my choices.
Ma said school board members should uphold the will of the voters and cited Proposition V a resolution that urged the school board to retain JROTC programs. It passed with 55 percent of the vote in November.
We should be doing as much as we can to get children to stay in school and promote leadership development and community service Ma told FOXNews.com. This is about the students right to choose and about programs that work.
But critics of Mas proposal including Assemblyman Tom Ammiano D-San Francisco and members of Veterans for Peace say theres no place for military programs on high school campuses.
Regardless of how you feel about JROTC it is unprecedented for the state to mandate that an individual district offer an elective non-critical program for a small number of students he said. This is about respecting the rights of local elected school boards to make their own decisions.
Hal Muskat an Army veteran who refused to serve in Vietnam said he doesnt want his tax dollars going to what he calls military training for high school students.
This is military training its that simple said Muskat now a member of Veterans for Peace. This is about softening up very impressionable open-minded young teenagers to the cult of militarism. Military skills have no place in public schools.
From left students Steven Zheng Anthony Truong and Roger Vien campaign for a ballot measure supporting JROTC in San Francisco.
The fight to keep Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps programs in San Franciscos high schools is far from over despite a last-minute push by veterans groups across the country. And who ultimately wins the battle could determine the future of the program in many cities throughout the U.S.
Pentagon officials calling JROTC an important academic and citizenship program for high school students say theyre hopeful the program will be saved. But they also say there are 700 schools in the country that are waiting to adopt the program if San Francisco drops it.
Opponents of JROTC programs meanwhile say educating students should remain a role for civilians and not for retired members of the armed forces.
The kerfuffle by the bay began two years ago when San Franciscos school board voted to phase out JROTC progams by the end of the 2007-08 school year citing recruitment concerns and the militarys policy toward gays.
The program was extended for another year but last June under threats of a lawsuit for not enforcing tougher state education standards the school board voted to stop granting gym credits to JROTC students and to offer JROTC as an elective course only.
Immediately enrollment in JROTC dropped dramatically.
But a state assemblywoman Fiona Ma a Democrat from San Francisco recently submitted legislation that would reinstate JROTC at seven of the citys public schools and overturn the original decision by its Unified School District to phase out the program.
Hats off to Fiona Ma to try and save this program said Jay Agg a spokesman for AMVETS a group of 180000 U.S. veterans. We hope shes successful itd be a real shame to deprive students in San Francisco or any other city the opportunity to reap the benefits of the program.
Among those benefits Agg said are the instruction of several key life skills including positive values and morals strong leadership and community service.
Youre taking advantage of an opportunity to teach morals and honor and discipline and love of country Agg said. You want them to learn at a young age to be a good leader.
Mas bill which passed out of an education committee last week by a 6-3 vote now heads to the states Appropriations Committee. Assembly Bill 223 would then require a two-thirds vote in the Leglislature to take effect immediately. Pentagon officials continue to monitor its progress.
We are hopeful that the School Board will realize that JROTC is an important academic and citizenship program for high school students ensuring the students currently enrolled will continue to benefit from the program Eileen Lainez a Pentagon spokeswoman told FOXNews.com in an e-mail.
If however the Board declines to reverse its decision there are approximately 700 schools on the waiting list to receive JROTC programs.
State Bill 601 which fortified physical education standards in California and was enacted last January requires the California Department of Education to monitor to what extent schools provide physical education instruction by gym teachers who hold appropriate credentials.
Last June facing allegations that it was illegally granting physical education credits for JROTC classes the San Francisco school board members voted to eliminate the gym credit.
Since none of our JROTC instructors hold appropriate physical education credentials thats one factor the board took into consideration spokeswoman Gentle Blythe told FOXNews.com.
Blythe also noted that State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack OConnell wrote a letter last April to Col. Michael Johnson who oversees Californias JROTC programs stating that JROTC classes do not in most cases fulfill the states requirements for physical education.
Enrollment in the citys seven JROTC programs which had already dropped from 1600 students in 2006-07 to 1050 in 2007-08 sank to about 500 this year once the phys-ed credit was removed.
Ma claims the decrease in enrollment has coincided with the school boards decision to eliminate the gym credit. The Department of Education was unable to provide statistics on the number of schools that offer physical education credits for JROTC programs but at least two states Florida and Alabama specifically list ROTC programs as an option for fulfilling the requirement.
In other cities like Chicago which has at least 34 JROTC programs at city high schools students receive physical education credit for participation said Frank Shuftan a spokesman for Chicago Public Schools. In New York students do not according to Department of Education spokeswoman Margie Feinberg.
Established by Congress in 1916 JROTC was an Army program before it was expanded to all branches of the armed forces in 1964. The program is now the Defense Departments largest youth development program with more than 480000 students enrolled nationwide in about 3400 secondary schools. In 2007-08 alone Lainez said those students performed more than 7 million hours of community service.
Agg said the programs also provide invaluable health benefits to students.
At a time when obesity and physical fitness are such important issues in America this is not the time to be cutting back on physical education he said. Its a critical area and an important education piece and JROTC does have a physical fitness element to it.
For many years Lainez said Pentagon officials have been concerned with the growing trend of obesity among U.S. teenagers.
As such JROTC has strengthened the Physical Education Health and Wellness programs to help combat this national problem Lainez said in an e-mail.
Vicky Chung a senior at San Franciscos Lowell High School told members of the Assembly during an April 1 hearing that the citys school board was not thinking critically when it voted to end JROTC programs that she said have taught her the importance of a higher education.
Please please please use your power to intervene on our behalf Chung said according to prepared remarks. I feel as if Im back in the 50s and 60s fighting for my civil liberties when the suppressors continue to force policies on me limiting my freedoms my rights my choices.
Ma said school board members should uphold the will of the voters and cited Proposition V a resolution that urged the school board to retain JROTC programs. It passed with 55 percent of the vote in November.
We should be doing as much as we can to get children to stay in school and promote leadership development and community service Ma told FOXNews.com. This is about the students right to choose and about programs that work.
But critics of Mas proposal including Assemblyman Tom Ammiano D-San Francisco and members of Veterans for Peace say theres no place for military programs on high school campuses.
Regardless of how you feel about JROTC it is unprecedented for the state to mandate that an individual district offer an elective non-critical program for a small number of students he said. This is about respecting the rights of local elected school boards to make their own decisions.
Hal Muskat an Army veteran who refused to serve in Vietnam said he doesnt want his tax dollars going to what he calls military training for high school students.
This is military training its that simple said Muskat now a member of Veterans for Peace. This is about softening up very impressionable open-minded young teenagers to the cult of militarism. Military skills have no place in public schools.
