Students at Berkeley High are mobilizing their classmates to stop the militarization of their school, after new measures are being implemented under the No Child Left Behind Act. Inside the Bay Area has recently covered World Can’t Wait organizers at Berkeley High in the article, “Recruitment policy angers area students”. Worldcantwait.org is posting an article from the Daily Cal, who covered a recent press conference held by the Berkeley High World Can’t Wait Club.
High Schoolers, Anti-War Group Protest Military Recruitment
BY Tamara Bartlett 6/14/07
Students at Berkeley High School along with an anti-war group held a press conference near the school Monday opposing the war in Iraq and a federal policy requiring student information to be released to military recruiters.
World Can’t Wait! Drive Out the Bush Regime and several students held the press conference on Milvia Street and Allston Way where a petition was circulated against the war and the No Child Left Behind Act.
“We sign this letter to let the Bush regime, and especially
the media, know that Berkeley High School will not accept the terms
that hold our future away from our hands and disregard our privacy and
personal security, and that we will not be used as tools for an unjust
and imperialist war,” the letter, which has been signed by 200-250
students, states.
Under the No Child Left Behind Act passed in 2002, schools are
required to release student information to military recruiters. Until
last month, Berkeley High School had been the last public high school
in the country to withhold the information.
However, the Berkeley Unified School District decided to
release the information after receiving a letter threatening to
withdraw federal funds.
Instead, Berkeley High School has given students the ability to opt out of having their information passed on.
Organizers said the conference was held not just to educate
students about the war and the act, but to openly display their
resistance.
“The whole ideology behind the press conference was to show
the resistance Berkeley High has against the unjust Bush
(administration),” said Daniel Sandoval, former Berkeley High student
and an organizer for World Can’t Wait. “It’s a show of resistance
against the war.”
The press conference was originally to be held in the high
school’s courtyard, but was relocated outside of the school as
organizers said they were not allowed to hold the conference at the
school.
District Spokesperson Mark Coplan said students, teachers and
principals alike cannot call press conferences at the school, as only
the district can officially call a conference.
Sandoval said the push toward school systems through the No
Child Left Behind Act was a step toward increased government control.
“They”re militarizing our school now,” Sandoval said.