the Coup

No Child Left

The No Child Left Behind act requires schools to give military recruiters a directory of students. If a school insists on protecting their students’ privacy, they can lose their funding.

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While the US Government tries to find more children for the military, they lengthened the tour of soldiers in Iraq, but cut their pay and their future veteran benefits.

This is an independent project of theCoup

Read more below:

• Everyone Left Behind
• Troops Become Veterans
• Opt-Out
• The Law
• Customize this card for Your Campaign

Everyone Left Behind

By 2004, the US had already cut $27 Billion from No Child Left Behind programs. In 2005, there was $9.4 billion less than promised for this program. Get the facts at the NEA.org or Ed Workforce.gov.

Troops Left Behind

The war in Iraq officially ended in May 2003. Yet, the US Government left tens of thousands of soldiers behind. Many soldiers have had their return home delayed 4 to 6 months after their tour was scheduled to end.

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Soldiers become Veterans

In 2003, the US Government cut “funding for veterans health care and benefit programs by nearly $25 billion over the next ten years.” The budget will cause “approximately half of all veterans to lose their only source of medical care.” $844 million were slashed from veterans’ medical care for this year alone. More facts at Veterans for Common Sense and Common Dreams.

Soldiers can’t Vote

The Pentagon’s inspector general reported that voting barriers remain for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. He says:

“In 2000, an estimated 29% of military personnel who wanted to vote did not get absentee ballots or received them too late.” Problems still “have not been fixed, jeopardizing the ability of more than 160,000 troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan to have their votes counted” in 2004. – USA Today

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Opt-Out

Students or parents may request that the student’s information not be released without written consent.

• Write a letter to your principal today, before the info is released.
• Inform teachers and the PTA. Ask them to tell every student that they can opt-out.
• Pressure the school to protect the privacy of students and withhold its lists.

See the law below or on the dept of education website.

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The Law

SEC. 9528. ARMED FORCES RECRUITER ACCESS TO STUDENTS AND STUDENT RECRUITING INFORMATION.

(1) ACCESS TO STUDENT RECRUITING INFORMATION- Notwithstanding section 444(a)(5)(B) of the General Education Provisions Act and except as provided in paragraph (2), each local educational agency receiving assistance under this Act shall provide, on a request made by military recruiters or an institution of higher education, access to secondary school students names, addresses, and telephone listings.

Spread the Word

You can make a huge difference by bringing this message to a local PTA, church, gym, day care, or after school program. Act now!

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Your Campaign

This postcard is available to customize and print for your campaign. Help students opt-out and convince schools to resist. Send an email about your plan so that we can help you undermine this abuse. Please note: we do not have cards to send, only the files to create one for campaigns.

You can make a huge difference by bringing this message to a local PTA, church, gym, day care, or after school program. Act now!

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