TESTIMONY OF STEPHEN J SPIRO

Edison, NJ 08837-3230

S_J_Spiro@hotmail.com



Good afternoon.  My name is Stephen Spiro. I am a resident of Edison, in
Middlesex County.  I had three children go thru the public school system in
New Jersey.  I am here today representing the Catholic Peace Fellowship.



The subject of my testimony is Section 9528 of the federal No Child Left
Behind Act of 2001.  Subsection (a)(2) of the act specifies “CONSENT- A
secondary school student or the parent of the student may request that the
student's name, address, and telephone listing described in paragraph (1)
not be released without prior written parental consent.”



There are a number of areas in which the school districts of New Jersey are
applying this rule inconsistently.



Fortunately, I have recently received official interpretations on two of
these areas from the Family Policy Compliance Office of the United States
Department of Education, which administers the military recruiter provisions
of the No Child Left Behind Act.  They also administer the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).   Contact information for the
Family Policy Compliance Office is included in the packet provided to this
Board, should you wish to verify this information independently.



Altho the act states that “A secondary school student  … may request that
the student's … listing … not be released”, many districts – including my
own district of Edison – have adopted policies that provide that “opt-out”
instructions will be accepted only from students who have reached their 18th
birthdays.  Reasons differ, and are not important here.



I have attached (in the packet, titled “STUDENT OPT-OUT”) a copy of email
correspondence from the Family Policy Compliance Office, which states,
“Under the military recruiter provisions, a school is required to notify
parents and provide them with an opportunity to opt out.  However, because
the statute also mentions that students may opt out, we have determined that
a school must honor a request made by a student who took the initiative to
tell a school not to disclose his or her name, address, & telephone number
to military recruiters.  The confusion over this issue is due to the fact
that the question has only recently been raised to us and we have not issued
any guidance on this matter.”



Since the federal office responsible for the military recruiter provisions
has determined that schools must accept an opt-out from a student of any
age, the New Jersey State Board of Education should adopt a rule making this
clear to all districts.  It is also clear from the email that schools must
accept the “opt-out” in any form, whether in a letter, district-provided
form or a form obtained from any other source.  This should also be
reflected in the State Board’s rules.  Additionally, it would be appropriate
for the State Board of Education immediately to notify all school districts
in the state of the determination of the Family Policy Compliance Office,
without waiting for the formal adoption of a regulation of the State Board.



It would also be a decent and appropriate act to let the students know of
this option, and, indeed, to provide them all with forms.



The second issue is much more serious.  Military recruiters have been
telling school districts that parents or students who opt-out of sending
information to military recruiters must  -- emphasize MUST – also have their
contact information withheld from educational or employment recruiters as
well.  I have heard that this was recently communicated to the Montclair and
Perth Amboy school districts by military recruiters.  There are probably
others.



The military recruiters lied.  There is no such rule or judicial or
departmental interpretation.  This is a desperate ploy by military salesmen
who see their “leads” drying up from opt-out.



I personally contacted the Family Policy Compliance Office, and have
enclosed a copy of my correspondence with Ms Ellen Campbell of that office.
It is in the packet, titled “SELECTIVE OPT-OUT”.  She states, yesterday,
clearly and unequivocally, “As far as FERPA is concerned, the school may
permit parents to ‘check off’ who may or may not have access to directory
information on their child.”  I urge the New Jersey State Board of Education
to adopt a rule making this clear to all districts.  Additionally, it would
be appropriate for the State Board of Education immediately to notify all
school districts in the state of this determination of the Family Policy
Compliance Office, without waiting for the formal adoption of a regulation
of the State Board.



Further, in this connection, I would encourage all districts that find that
military recruiters have lied to them or to their students to bar further
recruitment in the district by that branch of the armed forces, on the same
basis that they would bar recruiters from employers or educational
institutions that used fraudulent or deceptive practices to gain access to
the student body.  The New Jersey State Board of Education should adopt
rules to facilitate and encourage such a policy.



Thank you very much for your time and attention.