Res. No. 341

Resolution calling upon the United States Congress to amend all current federal laws which require the release of contact information of high school students to military recruiters unless such students or their parents or guardians “opt-out” of providing such information, to require instead that such contact information be released only upon the request of a student or their parent or guardian.

By Council Members James, Foster, Liu, Mark-Viverito, Vann and White Jr.

                     Whereas, Under federal law, local educational agencies that receive funding under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), are required to provide the names, addresses and telephone listings of secondary school students to a military recruiter if a request for such information is made by such a recruiter; and

                      Whereas, The law also provides for a consent procedure whereby a secondary school student or parents or guardians of such student may request that the student’s information not be released without prior written parental or guardian consent; and

                     Whereas, Despite the consent procedure, many civil liberties organizations, advocacy groups, educators, parents and students have spoken out against what they believe is an overly aggressive campaign to recruit high school students, and in particular, low-income students and students of color; and

                      Whereas, According to a November 2005 New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) press release, the U.S. Department of Defense’s Joint Advertising and Marketing Research and Studies office specifically targets students of color through “Marketing to Hispanics” and “Marketing to African Americans” literature; and

                     Whereas, In addition, in November 2005, the National Priorities Project (NPP) released an independent analysis of Pentagon data that found that two-thirds of the nation’s recruits are from lower-income communities; and

                     Whereas, According to the NPP analysis, 70% of Black recruits come from neighborhoods at or below the U.S. median household income; and

                     Whereas, The NPP analysis also found that in 2004, Kings County, New York, was one of three counties in the nation with the highest numbers of Black Army recruits; and

                     Whereas, In addition to unfairly targeting low-income communities and students of color, there is also evidence that the Department of Defense (DOD) may not be in compliance with the section of federal law that enables students or their parents or guardians to “opt-out” of providing recruiters with contact information; and

                     Whereas, In April 2006, six New York City high school students, along with the NYCLU, filed a federal lawsuit against the DOD alleging, among other claims, that despite submitting the “opt-out” form and requesting that their name be removed from email lists, the students are continuing to be heavily recruited by the military; and

                     Whereas, Developing a policy that releases student contact information only by request of that student or their parent or guardian would help alleviate the problems of targeted and improperly continued recruitment efforts; now, therefore, be it

                     Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the United States Congress to amend all current federal laws which require the release of contact information of high school students to military recruiters unless such students or their parents or guardians “opt-out” of providing such information, to require instead that such contact information be released only upon the request of a student or their parent or guardian.

JC

LS#414

5/16/06, 2:30pm