[pjw] NEWS: Portland Public School board ok's JROTC programs - OPB 5/8

[Peace and Justice Works]

PJW supporters
I wish I had better news for you today. I'll mention this in the Friday 
rally summary too but on Tuesday, the Portland Public School board voted 
(narrowly) to approve JROTC programs. The good news, I guess, is that it's 
up to each school to decide if they want it. The article below from OPB 
also implies that it may be harder to set up such a program now than under 
the old, implicit policy, but I don't know about that.

Other good news is that they report only one community member spoke in 
favor of the military indoctrination plan, a former marine.

*Sigh*.

Also yesterday City Council approved the Mayor Wheeler anti-camping 
ordinance which is only slightly less problematic than the Commissioner 
Gonzalez version that failed two weeks ago, but Gonzalez supported it so 
it can go into effect right away.

https://www.portlandmercury.com/news/2024/05/09/47194102/portland-approves-new-public-camping-ordinance-after-facing-legal-pressure

*Sigh*.

Slightly better news, Biden said he is going to withhold 3000 bombs from 
Israel, which ticked off the Netanyahu government. But let's be realistic, 
there are probably plenty of "offensive weapons" (aren't they all?) that 
are already there with US flags on them.

  https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/israel-fury-biden-threat-weapons-rafah-attack-rcna151221

OK, back to your regularly scheduled programming....
dan handelman
peace and justice works

  https://www.opb.org/article/2024/05/08/portland-public-schools-jrotc-programs/
Portland Public Schools board narrowly OKs path for JROTC programs
    By Natalie Pate (OPB)
    May 8, 2024 11:53 p.m.

The policy revision explicitly allows district high schools to start Junior
Reserve Officers Training Corps programs if they want them. There was
confusion on whether the policy was needed and if it makes it easier or
harder to establish these groups.

    High schools in Portland Public Schools now have a path to start JROTC
    programs as part of their career technical education offerings -- if
    school administrators want them.

    The U.S. Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps is a federal program
    sponsored by the United States Armed Forces. Participating students
    learn the JROTC curriculum, including lessons in leadership, health and
    wellness, physical fitness, first aid and geography. Cadets then
    participate in co-curricular activities to demonstrate what they've
    learned, such as exhibition military drill competitions and air rifle
    competitions.

    JROTC programs are established in high schools and some middle schools
    across the country, as well as U.S. military bases around the world.
    The program is described online as "one of the largest character
    development and citizenship programs for youth in the world."

    There are only five programs in Oregon at high schools in Madras,
    Lebanon, Salem, Oregon City and Troutdale.

    The Portland Public school board Tuesday evening voted 4-3 to change
    the district's military careers policy in an attempt to outline a
    clearer pathway to establish JROTC programs.

    Board members Michelle DePass, Andrew Scott and Patte Sullivan voted
    against the change. Student representative Frankie Silverstein also
    voiced her opposition on behalf of the district's student council and
    other peers.

    Portland's new policy allows schools to offer JROTC but does not
    require it.

    The district's military policy, originally adopted in 2001, already
    said the district will not prohibit a teacher, counselor or
    administrator from providing information to a student about career and
    educational opportunities in the military or from referring them to a
    recruitment office.

    Schools will provide necessary records and recommendations to military
    offices and institutions to facilitate scholarship, appointments or
    enlistment for military services, according to the policy. And now,
    with the approved revision this week, the policy expressly allows a
    high school principal to establish a JRTOC program in consultation with
    the superintendent.

    District officials said JROTC programs would still have to adhere to
    the requirements that guide the creation of any other career tech
    program.

    Proponents of the policy change -- particularly school board Vice-Chair
    Herman Greene, who sponsored it -- have said over the past several
    weeks that offering more career tech programs will help keep kids in
    school, and they want students to know all their options.

    Not every student will graduate high school and move on to college.
    Some will go directly into the workforce, learn a trade or join the
    military. Greene and other supporters see this as a way to help educate
    students on their choices.

    "We must vote yes, because, as a public school system, we have an
    obligation to prepare our students for all possible career paths, not
    just the ones that we like or deem valuable," Greene said in his
    prepared comments Tuesday night. "And when they decide that they are
    interested in pursuing something, we should be there to support their
    decisions."

    Greene said the proposal stemmed from a letter from an anonymous
    student.

    "A student came to me out of concern that if they shared what they
    really wanted, the counselor at their school would withhold scholarship
    opportunities for them because they completely disagreed with their
    position," he told the board. "[The student] talked to this counselor,
    and said, `This is what they wanted,' and the counselor had told them,
    `Well, it's OK. But you don't have to do that. You can do this, and you
    can do that.'"

    But there was confusion among board members about precisely what they
    were being asked to do, and whether it was needed.

    Board member Scott said that coming into the meeting, he was under the
    impression that the district actively did not allow JROTC programs in
    local schools and that's why they were approving the policy change.

    However, during board discussions it became clear that isn't the case.
    There's nothing stopping schools from establishing these programs now,
    said board member Eddie Wang, and, in fact, putting the new revisions
    into motion could actually make it much harder to establish a JROTC
    program.

    Wang pointed out that, according to the proposal, any JROTC programs
    will have to be established in a way that aligns with PPS's "academic
    standards, policies and administrative directives." But the district
    has an administrative directive restricting military recruitment in
    Portland schools -- something many people argue JRTOC does.

    In that line of thinking, Wang argued the new policy could be used to
    actively prevent JROTC programs.

    Scott recommended the proposal go back to the board's policy committee
    to sort out the confusion. There were also unanswered questions about
    the program's fiscal impact on the district and claims that JROTC
    programs do not allow some students, including immigrants, to
    participate. The board ultimately decided to move ahead with the
    regular vote.

    Of the public comment collected and presented in Tuesday night's board
    documents, only one person voiced support for the policy -- former
    marine and state Rep. James Hieb, R-Canby.

    The remaining 16 or so who submitted comments from roughly the last
    month, as well as a handful who testified in person Tuesday, were
    strongly opposed.

    Veterans for Peace, About Face, War Resisters League-Portland, some PPS
    students and individual veterans were among the opposition.

    They argue the JROTC is military training and recruitment and that it
    encourages students to see the world and history "through the lens of
    war and violence." Other critics also raised concerns that these
    efforts often target students of color and that JROTC programs in
    Portland schools would likely target low-income schools.

    Some argued having JROTC programs in the district violates PPS'
    commitment to be trauma-informed, meaning they take into account how
    adverse experiences affect kids, and that it goes against the
    community's values.

    Further, they argued that military jobs are not like other careers.
    Opponents listed possible violence, death, PTSD and suicide seen in
    combat or when soldiers return as reasons why serving in the military
    differs from other potential jobs.

    IFRAME: https://www.youtube.com/embed/RC4ZMn_cEcA?si=imaQlC2geMDUgfSh

    Portland resident Sylvia McGauley submitted testimony about her
    experience teaching for several years at Reynolds High School, which
    houses the JROTC program in Troutdale. She argued that JROTC staff, who
    apply through the Army, are often underqualified to teach in a public
    school setting and the programs introduce added expenses the district
    can't afford.

    Additionally, McGauley said, investigations by both the Military Times
    and New York Times found JROTC personnel have been convicted of sexual
    harassment and abuse of students at disproportionately higher rates
    than other school staff.

    Read the adopted policy change and public testimony here.

https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Agenda/915?meeting=633534