GA Senate Bill on Standardization of Opt-Out Systems in Front of Education Committee
| We are in desperate need of your support tomorrow morning in trying to get Senate Bill 528 passed in the Georgia Senate. In the past few months the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia have been working with Senator Nan Orrock and Representative Stephanie Stuckey Benfield to introduce a Bill that protects high school students from abusive military recruitment. Under the No Child Left Behind Act high school students personal information is turned over to military recruiters without their consent. The only way that this information is kept private is if the student chooses to sign an opt-out form. The problem is that the opt-out systems are not standardized throughout the state and are often not implemented in individual schools. Senate Bill 528 mandates that the state of Georgia implement a standardized opt-out system and that student’s information is not given away without parent’s knowledge. This would protect the student’s privacy and would let the students and their parents choose if they would like to be contacted by military recruiters. To read a copy of the bill check out http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/search/sb528.htm
Here at AFSC we believe that the consequence of joining any branch of the military are too great to allow little known recruitment policies that target minors to prevail. Parents should play an important roll in this discourse, especially when the end result of the recruitment process could put these teenagers on a battlefield. We just got a very last minute notice that there will be a hearing on the SB528 tomorrow morning at 8:30 am in LOB310 at the Georgia State Capitol. We need your help in filling up the room with supporters of the Bill. It would be especially important to have a few parents or students come tomorrow that might be able to testify. We know that it’s a stretch for anyone to make it to the capital at 8:30am with less then 24 hours notice. YOU CAN STILL HELP by calling the senators in the education committee and asking them to support SB528. Here is a list of senators in the education committee: http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/senate/education.php These committee members represent the whole state, so don’t worry about whether of not they are in your district or not, just call!! Call right now if you can! Call all day tomorrow! Thanks
Caitlin Barrow
American Friends Service Committee
caitlin_barrow@yahoo.com
(912)258-1844
Tim Franzen
American Friends Service Committee
tfranzen@afsc.org
(404)414-5521 |
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