Online with Tom Nixon

(From iNACOL)

Action Alert Military Recruitment Policies for Graduates of Online Public Schools

The House of Representatives and the Senate Armed Services Committee have approved a provision that would classify graduates of all public schools—including online public schools—as Tier I candidates for military enrollment.

The full Senate will consider the legislation that contains this great provision in the upcoming months. We urge you to contact your Members of Congress to express your support for this important provision.

Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to get us where we are today. Your outreach, your efforts, your dedication, have gotten us this far. Because of you, we are closer than ever to finally ending the military’s outdated recruiting policy that discriminates against graduates of public online schools.

Thanks to your outreach and the support of key allies in the House and Senate, we have made tremendous progress towards ending recruiting discrimination against graduates of public online schools.

The timeline below highlights several of the key accomplishments to date:

December 3, 2010 The Patriot-News of Central Pennsylvania published an editorial calling on the Department of Defense to, “Get into the 21st century and reconsider its policy on cyberschools.”

March 23, 2011 Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s Personnel Subcommittee, met with a graduate of an online public school to discuss barriers to military enrollment and said he will work to get the policy changed.

April 5, 2011 South Carolina’s State Superintendent of Education, Dr. Mick Zais, a West Point graduate and retired United States Army Brigadier General, wrote a letter to Congressman Wilson in support of Congressman Wilson’s efforts to reform the Tier system.

May 9, 2011 The Associated Press ran a story that highlighted the inequality characteristic of current Department of Defense policy on the recruitment and enlistment of graduates of online public schools and Congressional efforts to find a solution to the problem.

May 13, 2011 Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a member of the Senate Leadership, and Representative Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education, sent a letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, urging Secretary Gates to update the DOD’s “antiquated” recruitment policy for graduates of online public schools.

May 17, 2011 The House defense authorization bill, the “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012,” which contains a provision that would classify graduates of online public schools as “Tier I” candidates for military enrollment, passed the House Armed Services Committee. The favorable provision is Sec. 525, “Policy on Military Recruitment and Enlistment of Graduates of Secondary Schools.”

May 26, 2011 The National Defense Authorization Act, including the provision that would classify graduates of online public schools as “Tier I” candidates for military enrollment, passed the full House of Representatives.

June 17, 2011 The Senate defense authorization bill, the “Department of Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012,” which contains the same provision included in the House version of the bill to classify graduates of online public schools as “Tier I” candidates for military enrollment, passed the Senate Armed Services Committee.

That brings us to where we stand right now. We have the momentum, and we are closer than ever to ending the military’s outdated recruiting policy. We are asking for your help again because you have proven over and over again how powerful your voice is in the political process. We need another push from our strongest allies to keep the momentum going. Please email your senators and your representative to tell them how strongly you support Tier I military recruiting status for online public schools.

We have included a sample email below. The email to your senators should encourage their support for the Tier I recruiting language currently in the Senate defense authorization bill, and the email to your representative should thank him or her for passing the House defense authorization bill with the Tier I language.

Thank you again for everything you’ve done and for your continued and active support!

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Dear Senator _________:

As a constituent and the parent of a child enrolled in a online public school, I am writing to seek your support for Tier I military recruiting status for graduates of public online schools. Section 526 of the National Defense Authorization Act (S. 1253) includes language that would provide equality in military recruitment policies for graduates of public online schools, placing them on the same level as any similarly qualified candidate from a traditional public high school.

Under the military’s current three-tier recruiting classifications, graduates of traditional brick and mortar high schools are classified as Tier I candidates, while graduates of public online high schools are relegated to Tier II status.

This outdated policy is discriminatory, and it deprives the U.S. military of countless qualified and patriotic volunteers. A growing number of families, including military families, are choosing online public schools, and policy should be revised to keep pace with changing trends in education.

I urge you to preserve the Tier I provision in the National Defense Authorization Act when the legislation is considered on the Senate floor. The Tier I provision was included in the version of the legislation that was approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee in a bipartisan vote. Given SASC’s strong endorsement of Tier I recruiting status for graduates of public online schools, I hope you will join us and give these graduates an equal chance to serve their country.

Sincerely,