Initiative targets military recruiting in Seattle

A group of anti-war activists wants a citywide vote this fall on whether military recruiters should be allowed on Seattle city property and in schools.

Recruiters will have the same access regardless of the outcome. Schools risk losing federal funds if they don't let recruiters in, and the city allows recruiters in public places as part of their right to free speech.

	SURVEY
	Should military recruiters be allowed on Seattle city property and in schools? Yes - 70% No - 20% OK on city property but not in schools - 10% Total votes: 1,002 Disclaimer

So the proposed College Not Combat Initiative, I-86, would be largely symbolic. Organizers say it's a chance for Seattle to go on record against the war in Iraq, a step toward outlawing recruiters and an opportunity for an important discussion.

"It will send a broad message in the city about the war," said School Board member Sally Soriano. "We're using the 'College Not Combat' term so that our children won't feel like joining the military is the only way for them to get a post-secondary education."

Volunteers already are collecting the 17,000 signatures needed to get the measure on the November ballot, organizers said.

The initiative is the latest local protest of military recruiting in schools. Garfield High School's PTSA passed a resolution a year ago demanding the removal of military recruiters from high schools. The district said recruiters have the right to be there, but the flap prompted districtwide policies regulating recruiters on campus.

"It's important to remember that the military is a viable option for some students, and I'm not sure that the school district or the city should be put in the position of deciding what students should or should not hear," said Holly Ferguson, a Seattle School District attorney.

Even if the measure passes, she said, she would advise the district to continue allowing recruiters into schools. Keeping recruiters out would violate the federal No Child Left Behind Act, risking at least $20 million in annual funds, and likely would violate the military recruiters' First Amendment rights, Ferguson said.

Military recruiters say they need to recruit 17- to 35-year-olds to fill the armed forces.

"The more access we have to students and the easier it is to offer them that opportunity, obviously that's less costly," said Petty Officer 1st Class Tim Ingersoll, a Navy recruiter for the Seattle area.

Ingersoll said recruiters aren't interested in attracting kids who don't want to join the military, and visiting high schools is the most efficient way to reach those who do.

"The important thing is that they get exposed to the military in a fair and balanced manner," he said.

San Francisco voters passed an initiative last year that was similar to the proposed I-86. There are still military recruiters in the schools there, said campaign manager Ragina Johnson, but the initiative brought attention to the issue. Now 90 percent of students in the school district have signed forms to keep the schools from giving military recruiters their names and addresses, she said.

Students in Seattle also can sign a form requesting that the district not give their information to military recruiters.

The Seattle initiative would establish a five-member city committee to seek out funds for college that would be made available to low-income students. The committee would also report on whether the public schools and the city were inadvertently encouraging recruiting.

"If nothing else, it will force people to discuss the impact of the war on our families," said City Council President Nick Licata.

Amy Hagopian, president of Garfield's PTSA, is a lead organizer of the initiative effort. She bristles at the word "symbolic" and compares the initiative to effective historical protests such as civil-rights sit-ins.

"This idea that symbols don't matter and the words we use don't matter and the settings that we put recruiters in don't matter, pretty soon nothing matters," she said.

The group plans a kickoff rally April 13 at Seattle Central Community College.

Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com