Discussion List Forming:
DoD Policy for Recruitment of Homeschoolers
Posted: February 2, 2006
The DoD has been given a directive by Congress in the FY 2006 Defense
Authorization Bill to write a standard to tell recruiters "what a
homeschooler is," and DoD will write it with, or without, any input
from homeschoolers.
I've established an ad hoc discussion list to try to wrie a
reasonable document/packet to submit to DoD.
I've put together an FAQ concerning homeschooling, in reference to
the Congressional requirement in Section 591 (not 522 -- it was
changed in committee). The most reasonable policy, that I can think
of to apply to everyone is that the applicant is, "in compliance with
state regulations," and "passes entry test." Still, my
language may need tweaking.
The list is set up to deliver the FAQ and the language of Section 591
to each new member upon subscription.
In the FAQ-language I have agreed with former DoD policy that
homeschooled grads are Tier 2 recruits, because Tier 2 is the
category for alternative diploma-holders, and homeschooling is an
alternative to 'traditional' day-school. I understand this isn't in
line with other recruitment/enlistment initiatives, but, from my
point of view, it fits with the facts-as-we-know-them. Discrimination
does not enter into it because other alternative-diploma holders
(correspondence school grads, distance-learning grads, self-directed-
school grads) are also Tier 2.
I do not intend to judge homeschooled recruits as not deserving as
many 'bennies' as day-school recruits. I respect the homeschooled
recruits who have completed their first terms of enlistment, and who
continue to serve honorably. This is not about individuals, it is
about statistical projections for a group, and the cost to the
taxpayer of that group.
The Tier 2 categorization is based on the CNA report about the 5-year
pilot program for Tier I homeschool enlistment, and on the fact that
homeschooling is an alternative to the standard.
The group will not to take a position one way or the other on:
- the rightness or wrongness of recruiting homeschoolers
- the database used by the Pentagon for supplying information to recruiters
- why any homeschooling parent would invest so much time in a child only to send him or her off to the military
- the war in Iraq
- the short-sightedness of the Pentagon in not recognizing the brilliance of homeschooled grads
- the narrow-mindedness of the Pentagon in not thinking outside the box
Valerie Moon
The Military Homeschoolers
