We didn’t mean what we wrote, School District says

Monday, Dec. 24, 2007 | 6:54 a.m.

Tucked into the Clark County School District's new in-house report card is a list of potential postgraduation goals for students. By 2009, the district wants to increase the percentage of students enrolling in four-year colleges and universities, as well as those signing up for two-year programs and those entering the workforce.

The district also wants to increase the percentage of students who intend to enlist in the military, taking it from its current 3 percent to a high of 7 percent in the next two years.

Why would the School District set such as goal?

It turns out it didn't, at least according to officials contacted by the Sun.

Lauren Kohut-Rost, deputy superintendent of curriculum and instruction, said the intent of the document - the "Quality Assurance Framework," a new assessment tool presented at a public meeting Monday - was to measure all postsecondary activity by district students, not to advocate for the military.

"What we would like to do is increase the percentage of seniors who have a plan beyond 12th grade," Kohut-Rost said. "That's what this is really about."

The ACLU has long fought to hold military access to public schools to the bare minimum required by law. Gary Peck, executive director of the Nevada ACLU, said he was troubled that the assessment even made it into print.

"Either this instrument was drafted incompetently, or they are being disingenuous," Peck said. "There really isn't a third option."

At the same time, Peck said, the district deserved credit "for recognizing the problem when it was presented to them, and correcting it."

The issue isn't about whether the ACLU favors students enlisting, Peck said.

"We're not anti-military," he said. "We're just looking for people to play by the rules."

School Board President Ruth Johnson said it's obvious that section of the assessment needs to be rewritten, because it was confusing enough to slip past her when she read it the first time. In fact, Johnson said, she initially thought the item was about tracking the percentage of students who said they were enlisting as a way to pay for college.

However, on second glance, Johnson said, she could "see what the concern for parents would be, that somehow we were trying to funnel our kids into the military, where they would be in danger."

In reality, "the district has never done anything to promote military involvement," Johnson said. "We follow the law and provide access (to recruiters) and leadership programs at the high schools. But enlistment has always been a choice left up to the families."

If the School District were trying to increase the percentage of students who join the military, it hasn't been doing much of a job. Of the more than 12,000 seniors in the class of 2007, just 3 percent indicated their intentions to enlist, down from 4 percent last year and 5 percent in 2004.

Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, military recruiters must have the same access to campuses and student information as that provided to colleges, universities and career training programs.

Military recruiters from all branches of the armed forces are familiar faces on Clark County School District campuses. They attend career fairs, set up tables outside cafeterias and visit classes. The district also has numerous JROTC programs, several of which have won top honors at national competitions.

While the School District's enlistment figures may have taken a slight dip, local recruiters for various branches of the armed forces say they have continued to meet their monthly and annual quotas.

The Nevada National Guard has a positive professional relationship with the district and its principals, said Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Simmons, who visits about two high schools each week.

Recruiters in other regions aren't always as fortunate, Simmons said.

"We've never been kicked out of a school or had any drama," Simmons said. "There are some places in this country I know that they only let the recruiters in because the law says you have to."

Through a combination of state and federal programs, the National Guard offers full college tuition reimbursement and money for textbooks. New enlistees are also eligible for a signing bonus of up to $20,000.

Simmons said he encourages young adults to involve their families in the decision-making process, even if they are already 18 and a parent's signature isn't required for enlistment. Nevada has about 30 National Guard units, and within the past year only two were sent overseas, Simmons said.

The top question from students has been the same for the past five years - whether they will be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, Simmons said.

"The Guard has always been really good about not skirting the issue," Simmons said. "We tell them the truth. We can't predict whether you will or will not (be deployed). The chance is always there and you have to be willing to deal with that possibility."

At Rancho High School in North Las Vegas, home to the district's aviation magnet program, nearly 250 students participate in the Air Force JROTC program.

Student Christopher Denton, in his second year in the program, said he intends to serve in the military - but only after completing his education at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. JROTC requires self-discipline and a willingness to crack the books, Denton said, two elements that will serve him well regardless of his career path.

Rancho sophomore Daniel Perlstein, also in the JROTC, said he's spoken several times with recruiters who have visited the campus to hand out pamphlets. But he's talked to his parents, as well.

"I'm going to college first," said Perlstein, whose mother teaches at Edmundo "Eddie" Escobedo Sr. Middle School.

"I do agree (with them) that's the best idea for me right now."

Rancho JROTC instructor Velma Stradford said about 30 percent of her students end up either enlisting after graduation or continuing in college ROTC programs. Stradford, who retired as a master sergeant after 20 years in the Air Force, said she's seen participation in her JROTC group dip in recent years from a high of more than 500 students to fewer than 250 students today.

Part of the decline is due to the opening of Canyon Springs High School three years ago, which absorbed students from Nellis Air Force Base who otherwise would have attended Rancho. But Stradford said she's also seen more parents expressing concerns about JROTC, mostly because of "misconceptions," Stradford said.

"Some parents don't want their kid putting on the uniform because they think that means we're going to send them off to war," Stradford said. "That's not the case at all."

Stradford said she talks candidly to students about her own experiences in the service, and encourages them to consider all their postsecondary options.

The military can offer young recruits the opportunity to learn a skill and merit-based career advancement, Stradford said. At the same time, she added, the road is not without risk.

"I tell them that Air Force is usually a little farther away from the action, but when they sign on that dotted line they're saying they are ready to die for their country," Stradford said. "Sometimes, you get sent somewhere you don't want to be."