NCLB Grants School Access to Military Recruiters

A little known provision of the federal "No Child Left Behind" Act requires school districts that receive NCLB assistance to share student information such as names and addresses of students with military recruiters.

Another provision in Section 9528 allows parents and students to request that personal information not be released. Schools must notify parents of their right to request that personal student information not be released, but many do not do so.

At the same time, some school districts do. The current issue of NEA Today reports :

One district that takes the parent opt-out provision seriously is Montclair, New Jersey, which has a "whole school" Section 9528 notification plan, starting with entering freshmen. Parents are told of their right to opt-out through home-school communications and then sent a reminder. After the most recent round of notices, Montclair reports that 92 percent of parents asked the schools not to give their children's contact information to the military.

NCLB requires school districts to provide military recruiters the "same access to secondary school students as is provided generally to postsecondary education institutions or prospective employers." Failure to do so can result in the loss of federal funds.

The Public Education Network (PEN) and National Coalition for Parent Involvement in Education (NCPIE) have launched an effort to inform high school students and parents about Title IX, Section 9528 of NCLB.

More information about this issue and sample forms that can be submitted to school districts to request privacy protection of student information are available at the PEN Web site.

April 2005