From: STATE
SUPERINTENDENT
Sent: Friday, October
11, 2002 5:19 PM
To: 'District
Superintendents, ROEs, Directors of Special Education'
Subject: NCLB Update -
Guidance on Providing Information to Military Recruiters
The No Child Left
Behind Act requires schools to provide information on students to military
recruiters. USDE has been working with the Department of
Defense to develop joint guidance to schools. Attached are a joint letter
from Secretaries Paige and Rumsfeld, the guidance, and model notification.
Generally
speaking, Local Education Agencies (LEAs) that are
recipients of ESEA funds must provide, upon request, students' name, address,
and phone number to military recruiters. Typically, recruiters are asking for
information on juniors and seniors.
If the
LEA has an effective "directory information" policy under FERPA, and
those three items are included in the FERPA "directory information"
notification, then the school must provide this information to recruiters - and
may do so without doing a specific notice to parents. On the other hand, if the
LEA does not have a "directory information" policy and/or does not
designate any of those three items as "directory information," then
the LEA would have to do a separate, specific notice to parents (presumably of
the juniors and seniors) and allow the parents (or students 18 or older) to
opt-out.
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20202
October 9, 2002
Dear Colleague:
For
more than 25 years, the Armed Forces of our Nation have been staffed entirely
by volunteers. The All-Volunteer Force
has come to represent American resolve to defend freedom and protect liberty
around the world. Sustaining that
heritage requires the active support of public institutions in presenting
military opportunities to our young people for their consideration.
Recognizing
the challenges faced by military recruiters, Congress recently passed
legislation that requires high schools to provide to military recruiters, upon
request, access to secondary school students and directory information on those
students. Both the No Child Left
Behind Act of 2001 and the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2002 reflect these requirements.
In
accordance with those Acts, military recruiters are entitled to receive the
name, address, and telephone listing of juniors and seniors in high
school. As clarified in the enclosure,
providing this information is consistent with the Family Educational Rights
and Privacy Act, which protects the privacy of student education
records. Student directory information
will be used specifically for armed services recruiting purposes and for
informing young people of scholarship opportunities. For some of our students, this may be the
best opportunity they have to get a college education.
The support
by our Nation’s educational institutions on behalf of the U.S. Armed Forces is
critical to the success of the All-Volunteer Force. It can be, and should be, a partnership that
benefits everyone. As veterans, and as
Cabinet Members serving the President, we can attest to the excellent
educational opportunities the military affords, as well as an environment that
encourages the development of strong character and leadership skills.
The Department of Education and Department of
Defense have worked together to provide you the enclosed guidelines for
compliance with these new laws. We
encourage you to examine the enclosed information carefully and to work closely
with military recruiters as they carry out their important public
responsibilities.
Sincerely,
Rod Paige Donald
H. Rumsfeld
Secretary of Education Secretary
of Defense
**************************
October 9, 2002
Guidance on Access to High School Students and
Information on Students by Military Recruiters
Q. What are the recent changes made by Congress concerning
military recruitment?
of high school students?
A. Congress has passed two major pieces of legislation that
generally require local
educational agencies (LEAs) receiving assistance under the Elementary
and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA)
1 to give military recruiters the same
access to secondary school students as they provide to
postsecondary institutions
or to prospective employers. LEAs are also generally required to
provide
students’ names, addresses, and telephone listings to military
recruiters, when
requested.
Q. Where are these statutory requirements found?
A. These requirements are contained in § 9528 of the ESEA (20
U.S.C. § 7908), as
amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (P.L. No.
107-110), the
education bill Congress recently passed.
These requirements are also contained in 10 U.S.C. § 503, as
amended by § 544
of the National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2002 (P.L. No. 107-
107), the legislation that provides funding for the nation’s
armed forces in fiscal
year 2002.
Q. What is the effective date for these military recruiter
access requirements?
A. While there are differences in the effective date provisions
for 10 U.S.C. § 503
and § 9528 of the ESEA, both provisions apply to all LEAs
receiving ESEA
funds by not later than July 1, 2002.
Q. What are the requirements of § 9528 of the ESEA?
A. Each LEA that receives funds under the ESEA must comply with a
request by a
military recruiter or an institution of higher education for
secondary students’
names, addresses, and telephone numbers, unless a parent has
“opted out” of
providing such information. (See below for additional
information.)
Section 9528 also requires LEAs that receive funds under the
ESEA to provide
military recruiters the same access to secondary school students
as they generally
provide to postsecondary institutions or prospective employers.
For example, if the
school has a policy of allowing postsecondary institutions or
prospective employers
to come on school property to provide information to students
about educational or
professional opportunities, it must afford
the same access to military recruiters.
1 If the LEA
receives funds under the ESEA, all the secondary schools in that LEA are
subject to the
requirements in these laws.
Q. Under § 9528 of the ESEA, what notification must LEAs provide
to parents
before disclosing names, addresses, and telephone numbers of
secondary students
to military recruiters and officials of institutions of higher
education?
A. Under FERPA, an LEA must provide notice to parents of the types
of student
information that it releases publicly. This type of student
information, commonly
referred to as “directory information,” includes such items as
names, addresses,
and telephone numbers and is information generally not
considered harmful or an
invasion of privacy if disclosed. The notice must include an
explanation of a
parent’s right to request that the information not be disclosed
without prior
written consent. Additionally, § 9528 requires that parents be
notified that the
school routinely discloses names, addresses, and telephone
numbers to military
recruiters upon request, subject to a parent’s request not to
disclose such
information without written consent.
A single notice provided through a mailing, student handbook, or
other method that
is reasonably calculated to inform parents of the above
information is sufficient to
satisfy the parental notification requirements of both FERPA and
§ 9528. The
notification must advise the parent of how to opt out of the
public, nonconsensual
disclosure of directory information and the method and timeline
within which to do so.
Q. If an LEA has not provided notice relating to “directory
information,” may it
release a student’s name, address, and telephone number when
requested by a
military recruiter?
A. As noted above, an LEA may provide a single notice regarding
both directory
information and information disclosed to military recruiters. If
an LEA does not
disclose “directory information” under FERPA, then it must still
provide military
recruiters access to secondary students’ names, addresses, and
telephone listings.
In addition, the LEA must notify parents that they may opt out
of this disclosure.
In other words, an LEA that does not disclose “directory
information” must
nonetheless provide a notice that it discloses information to
military recruiters.
The notice must be reasonably calculated to inform parents.
Q. If a parent opts out of the public, nonconsensual disclosure
of directory
information (or any subset of such information), must the three
data elements be
released to military recruiters upon their request?
A. If a parent opts out of providing directory information to
third parties, the opt-out
relating to name, address, or telephone number applies to
requests from military
recruiters as well. For example, if the opt-out states that
telephone numbers will
not be disclosed to the public, schools may not disclose
telephone numbers to
military recruiters.
Q. If the school does not list one or more of the three data
elements (e.g., telephone
number) among its directory information, may it release that
information to
military recruiters?
A. If a school does not designate one or more of the three items
as “directory
information” under FERPA, it still must provide all three items
to military
recruiters upon request. Also, in that case, the school would
have to send a
separate notice to parents about the missing “directory
information” item(s),
noting an opportunity to opt out of disclosure of the
information to military
recruiters. An easier method, of course, would be for the school
to designate all
three items – name, address, and telephone listing – as
“directory information.”
Q. How are the requirements under § 9528 of the ESEA enforced?
A. Schools that do not comply with § 9528 of the ESEA could
jeopardize their
receipt of ESEA funds.
Q. How does § 544 of the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002
amend the former requirements under 10 U.S.C. § 503?
A. Section 544 of the National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2002
revises Title 10, Section 503(c) in several important ways.
First, the recruiting
provisions now apply only to LEAs (including private secondary
schools) that
receive funds under the ESEA. Second, these provisions now
require access by
military recruiters to students, under certain conditions, and
to secondary school
students’ names, addresses, and telephone listings. Third, as
discussed earlier,
they require LEAs to notify parents of their right to opt out of
the disclosure of
their children’s names, addresses, and telephone numbers and to
comply with any
such requests from the parents or the students.
Q. How are these requirements under 10 U.S.C. § 503 enforced?
A. In addition to the potential for loss of funds under ESEA noted
above for failure
to comply with § 9528 of the ESEA, an LEA that denies a military
recruiter
access to the requested information on students after July 1,
2002, will be subject
to specific interventions under 10 U.S.C. § 503.
In this regard, the law requires that a senior military officer
(e.g., Colonel or Navy
Captain) visit the LEA within 120 days. If the access problem is
not resolved with the
LEA, the Department of Defense must notify the State Governor
within 60 days.
Problems still unresolved after one year are reported to
Congress if the Secretary of
Defense determines that the LEA denies recruiting access to at
least two of the armed
forces (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, etc.). The expectation is that
public officials will
work with the LEA to resolve the problem.
Additionally, the Department of Defense has developed a national
high school
data base to document recruiter access. Presently, 95 percent of
the nation’s
22,000 secondary schools provide a degree of access to military
recruiters that is
consistent with current law.
Q. Are private schools subject to the military recruiter
requirements?
A. Private secondary schools that receive funds under the ESEA are
subject to 10
U.S.C. § 503. However, private schools that maintain a religious
objection to
service in the Armed Forces that is verifiable through the
corporate or other
organizational documents or materials of that school are not
required to comply
with this law.
Q. Where can I get more information on the requirements of 10
U.S.C. § 503?
A. The Office of the Secretary of Defense may be contacted for
copies of the statute,
or questions relating to it. Please contact the Accession Policy
Directorate as
follows:
Director, Accession Policy
4000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-4000
Telephone: (703) 695-5529
Q. Where can I get more information on the requirements of §
9528 of the ESEA?
A. The Family Policy Compliance Office (FPCO) in the Department of
Education
administers FERPA as well as § 9528 of the ESEA, as amended by
the No Child
Left Behind Act of 2001. School
officials with questions on this guidance, or
FERPA, may contact the FPCO at FERPA@ED.Gov
or write to the FPCO as
follows:
Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20202-4605
Telephone: (202) 260-3887
Fax: (202) 260-9001
***************************
Model Notice for Directory Information under the
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
The Family Educational Rights and
Privacy Act (FERPA), a Federal law, requires that [School
District], with
certain exceptions, obtain your written consent prior to the disclosure of
personally identifiable information from your child’s education
records. However, [School
District] may
disclose appropriately designated “directory information” without written
consent,
unless you have advised the District to the contrary in
accordance with District procedures. The
primary purpose of directory information is to allow the [School
District] to include this type of
information from your child’s education records in certain
school publications. Examples
include:
§ A playbill, showing your student’s role in
a drama production;
§ The annual
yearbook;
§ Honor roll
or other recognition lists;
§ Graduation
programs; and
§ Sports
activity sheets, such as for wrestling, showing weight and height of team
members.
Directory information, which is information that is generally
not considered harmful or an
invasion of privacy if released, can also be disclosed to
outside organizations without a parent’s
prior written consent. Outside organizations include, but are
not limited to, companies that
manufacture class rings or publish yearbooks. In addition, two
federal laws require local
educational agencies (LEAs) receiving assistance under the Elementary
and Secondary Education
Act of 1965 (ESEA) to
provide military recruiters, upon request, with three directory information
categories – names, addresses and telephone listings – unless
parents have advised the LEA that
they do not want their student’s information disclosed without
their prior written consent. 1
If you do not want [School District] to
disclose directory information from your child’s
education records without your prior written consent, you must
notify the District in writing by
[insert date]. [School
District] has designated the following information as directory
information: [Note: an LEA may, but does not
have to, include all the information listed
below.]
Ÿ Student’s name -Participation in
officially
Ÿ Address recognized activities and sports
Ÿ Telephone listing -Weight and height of members of
Ÿ Electronic mail address athletic teams
Ÿ Photograph -Degrees, honors, and awards
Ÿ Date and place of birth received
Ÿ Major field of study -The most recent educational
Ÿ Dates of attendance agency or institution
Ÿ Grade level attended
1 These
laws are: Section 9528 of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. 7908), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act
of 2001 (P.L.
107-110), the education bill, and 10 U.S.C. 503, as amended by section 544, the
National
Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2002 (P.L. 107-107), the legislation that
provides funding for the
Nation’s armed forces.
Robert Schiller
State Superintendent
of Education
statesup@isbe.net