By Stephen Bowen
In 2005, as the nation fought two wars, the school board for Maine’s largest school district made national headlines for its efforts to tightly limit the access of military recruiters without violating what was then the newly-enacted No Child Left Behind Act. That federal law requires schools receiving federal funds to allow access to military recruiters, but does not specify whether they can wear military uniforms or administer the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB). This multi-aptitude test helps interested students understand their strengths and determine the career fields — including those in the military — for which they might be well suited.
Nearly a decade later, I am happy to read that this district does in fact allow students access to recruiters and sees the value in doing so.
But some things haven’t changed. Mainers are still bravely serving their country here at home and in faraway places like Afghanistan. And unfortunately, military recruiters still feel that in some schools they are not truly welcome.
When those recruiters shared their serious concerns with me and other members of the LePage Administration, both verbally and in well-publicized e-mail exchanges, we responded with two bills that shared one goal: ensuring that Maine’s students have the opportunity to explore military service.
Had they been enacted, our proposals would have required school boards to adopt local policies allowing the administration of the ASVAB and guaranteeing uniformed military recruiters the same access to meet with students enjoyed by other postsecondary and career recruiters.
I am deeply disappointed that both bills ultimately failed as a result of partisan politics and an insistence by some that the LePage Administration and the recruiters with which we spoke weren’t telling the truth about these being real problems that needed solving.
In the days since, a number of schools and districts have publicly affirmed their commitment to making their open door policies known. This is the right thing to do, and it means that their students will have the opportunity to explore all of the exciting options that await them after graduation. I applaud these districts for putting their students first in this way as all should be doing.
But those public insistences don’t discount the fact that members of our military feel their uniformed presence is not uniformly welcomed in schools — including those very schools that maintain they allow at least some degree of access. The LePage Administration’s proposals were an attempt to resolve that disparity. The fact that the uniformed recruiter bill won such strong support in the legislature, including that of Democratic Senate President Justin Alfond who said he believed the bill was “necessary” and Speaker of the House Mark Eves, suggests that this is a valid issue we still need to address.
Our bills did not pass, but school districts could and should still put in place a policy supporting ASVAB administration and uniformed recruiter access. This would ensure as we move forward, there would be no question from students, educators, parents and our military recruiters of what is allowed and is not allowed in our schools.
Ultimately, it is this action that will send our students a strong message that military service is something to which they should aspire.
Stephen Bowen, of Rockport, is Maine’s commissioner of education.
