BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- A little-noticed provision in a new federal education law is requiring high schools to hand over to military recruiters some key information about its juniors and seniors: name, address and phone number.

The Pentagon says the information will help it recruit young people to defend their country. But the new law disturbs parents and administrators in some liberal communities that aren't exactly gung-ho about the armed forces.

Some say the law violates students' privacy and creates a moral dilemma over the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays.

"I find it appalling that the school is sending out letters to do the job of the military," said Amy Lang, the parent of a student at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, where Coke was once banned in a protest against the soda giant's investments in apartheid South Africa. "It's clearly an invasion of my daughter's privacy."

The No Child Left Behind law, signed last January, pumps billions into education but also gives military recruiters access to the names, addresses and phone numbers of students in 22,000 schools. The law also says that schools must give the military the same access to their campuses that businesses and college recruiters enjoy.

School systems that fail to comply could lose federal money. The measure also applies to private schools receiving federal funding. But Quaker schools and others that have a religious objection to military service can get out of the requirement.

Students and parents who oppose the law can keep their information from being turned over to the military, but they must sign and return an "opt-out" form.

Opting out

The Boston school system, which has 7,500 juniors and seniors, included the opt-out notice in a take-home student handbook, but fewer than a dozen parents opted out.

So far, 95 percent of the nation's schools are in compliance, said Pentagon spokeswoman Maj. Sandra Troeber. She would not identify the other schools. But Education Department spokesman Dan Langan said that the current focus is on cooperation and that no schools have been sanctioned.

Federal law already requires men to register with the Selective Service within 30 days of turning 18. The new law, however, enables the Pentagon to reach potential recruits when they are 15 or 16.

In New York City, Daniel Alterman was taken aback when his 15-year-old son, a junior at Stuyvesant High, received a recruitment letter.

"Parents are in the dark," Alterman said. "It freaked me out. I didn't sign up to support the military effort."

Alterman said after he opted out, his son received another letter, this one promoting scholarships. "It was very seductive. They didn't say anything about risk to personal safety," Alterman said.

Among those objecting to the new requirements is the New York City chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Executive director Donna Lieberman said that the opt-out provision is inadequate and that schools should be doing more to protect students' privacy.

In a letter last month, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Education Secretary Rod Paige reminded high school administrators of their duty, and cited "the excellent educational opportunities the military affords, as well as an environment that encourages the development of strong character and leadership skills."

'We had to comply with the law'

The Pentagon said better access to students could also hold down the rising costs of recruitment. Over the past decade, the cost per recruit has nearly doubled from $6,500 to $11,600.

Before the law, military recruiters could meet with students in Cambridge and Northampton on campus only if the student sought them out, and then only at a meeting attended by a guidance counselor. But Cambridge held a military career fair at the high school a month ago.

"It's a vast departure from the way we've done business," said Donna Harlan, an associate superintendent in the Northampton school system. "We are not in the business of giving lists of names of kids to anybody. That was tough. The issue was if we were to receive federal or state money, we had to comply with the law."

The law also spelled the end of a 6-year ban on military recruiting on campus in Portland, Oregon. After contending that the "don't ask, don't tell" policy discriminates against gays, the school system now gives recruiters a shot at its 16,000 students.

In Massachusetts, Framingham High senior April Middleton decided over lunch recently that maybe the military is in her future after talking with Army National Guard Sgt. Louis Perrin, a recruiter who visited the cafeteria.

Middleton, 18, said she plans to enlist after she graduates, and the prospect of war has not scared her off. "Sometimes you've got to make sacrifices," she said.

Sometimes, however, recruiters battle hostility.

"One teacher said we were trying to brainwash kids. All we were doing was handing out pencils," Perrin said. "We're not trying to invade anybody's privacy. We're just trying to protect their freedoms."

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That's an article from CNN.com about the No Child Left Behind law I was talking about last night. Isn't that scary? The military can bug you whenever the fuck it wants to without your consent, and if your school tries to protect your constitutional right to privacy, they stop receiving federal funding. Schools are the only system run by inscentive, which when you really think about it, schools should be the LAST system to be run that way. The government basically passes these bills and tells schools that it's not illegal if they don't comply, but that they just won't get any money. Lovely. You know Bush didn't read this fucking bill, anyway. It's over 600 pages long. There is no WAY he sat down and read every little detail of that bill. There's all these little add-ons that most people don't even know are there, but that affect everyone. AAAARGH! Sorry, it just frustrates me that this bill was passed almost two years ago, and people are just now protesting it. I sure as hell don't want the military knowing my address and phone number. My English teacher refuses to write reccomendations for students that wish to apply to military schools because she says she "doesn't think young people should be fighting. They're just starting life." I wholeheartedly agree. Eighteen is young enough, and at least that I can understand since that is when you legally become an adult, but it's just wrong to try and brainwash kids that are fifteen and sixteen and don't know any better. They make such wonderful promises: they'll teach you valuble life skills and pay for a college education! It all sounds wonderful, doesn't it? Sure, until suddenly your fleet is the only one in the Navy suitable enough to go to war, so therefore yours is the first to be sent out if we do go to war, and all you wanted was to put your four years in, come home, marry your fiance, and go to college. Suddenly it isn't so wonderful. And yes, that is someone I know.

Alright, I'm done ranting.

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