San Francisco school board strips JROTC program of PE credit
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the San Francisco school board has voted 4-1 to stop awarding high school students enrolling in Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corp (JROTC) a physical education credit. The decision will likely cripple the long-standing program, which most of 1,200 students take because it satisfies the PE requirement. “If students really love the program, they'll take it anyway,” said board President Mark Sanchez, who has led opposition to JROTC because of its ties to the military. Some students dispute this, saying they do not have time in their schedules for both JROTC and a required PE course. JROTC has been on borrowed time since 2006, when the board voted to eliminate it. However the board later agreed to let the program continue through spring 2009. Earlier this year, state schools chief Jack O'Connell informed Col. Michael Johnson, head of the state's JROTC programs, that the military classes were not aligned with state standards for PE. In May, attorneys John Affeldt and Michelle Rodriguez of the law firm Public Advocates sent the district a letter hinting they would sue if the district did not fix the problem. When the school board met in June, it considered a resolution by board members Norman Yee and Jane Kim to end PE credit for the program. After a vote on the resolution ended in a tie, proponents were able to pass it at a subsequent board meeting. Board member Jill Wynns opposed the resolution, which she says would cost the district money because it cannot lay off all the JROTC teachers for another year. Mr. Yee counters that the district would save money by avoiding a costly lawsuit. Meanwhile, JROTC supporters haven't given up trying to save their program. Johnny Wang, spokesman for Choice for Students, predicts that parents and others who want to keep JROTC will collect the 7,200 signatures they need to place a nonbinding measure on the November ballot intended to show support for the program.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle, 6/27/08, By Nanette Asimov
[Editor’s Note: The letter from Public Advocates is below. Information on the board’s original decision to end the program is at the second link.]
Public Advocates press release on JROTC controversy
NSBA School Law pages on JROTC controversy