Militarizing Youth in Public Education: Observations from A Military-Style Charter School

EVER SINCE THE EVENTS OF SEPTEMBER 11, EVERYDAY LIFE IN U.S. SOCIETY HAS been assaulted by the camera surveillance of public spaces, the wiretapping of personal conversations under the auspices of the Patriot Act, metal detectors in public schools, unlawful searches in schools and workplaces, and a redundant war on poverty, crime, drugs, and terrorism. Everyday life in this society has become filled with images and overtones of militarization. Our public spaces are being booby-trapped and our private lives plagued by a culture of war. As we lay prone before our TV sets and watch the latest invasion and scenes of battle unfold, neoliberalism chums our public lives into private, super-sized profits. The connection between militarization and neoliberalism is not a recent phenomenon. The U.S. military has long been a trailblazer for U.S. neoliberal policies in the world system. Historically, the United States has supported nations seeking independence from colonial masters or oppressive political regimes, especially if U.S. military intervention would result in greater access to raw materials and consumer markets for corporate elites (Sommers, 2002). The invasion of Iraq by U.S. military forces, for example, was portrayed as a strategy for spreading democracy into a region of the world ruled by evil political forces. However, the invasion simply disguised the spread of neoliberal policies that seek to increase the "dominance of international corporations, international financiers, and sectors of local elites" (Tabb, 2003: 25). Ironically, the invasion of Iraq was sold to the American public as a quick and easy fix to an undemocratic regime. Domestically, the recent trend toward both privatizing and insinuating neoliberal values into the U.S. public education system has become aquick and easy fix for low test scores and underperformance. Neoliberal terms, such as "regimentation," "discipline," and "commitment," are introduced into school practice to enforce a corporate identity in students that rewards competition and success. From the neoliberal perspective, schools and students underachieve because they lack the drive to compete for success. The attempt, for example, to introduce"merit pay" or"combat pay" for teachers in public schools is a neoliberal tool for transitioning teaching and learning practices into a market-driven mindset (Furillo, 2005; Gledhill, 2005). To remedy underachievement issues and concerns, the U.S. public education system is being infused with neoliberal values that embrace the concepts of a free market, a market-driven education, and a voucher system that provides families and persons with a broader range of educational choices (Desmond, 2002). The infusion of neoliberal values into public education runs parallel with the increasing militarization of public education as schoolchildren are exposed to metal detectors, bag/backpack and locker searches, and pat-down searches by security officers (Pinard, 2003; Reid, 2004). Local schools are becoming publicly funded, privatized militarized zones, with no one questioning the transformation from public to private, from civilian to enlisted (literally or ideologically), and from learning ground to battleground. In his 2004 budget, for example, President Bush proposed $694 million for school safety. The National Association of School Resource Officers argues that the money is needed to develop antiterrorist measures in public schools for dealing with school shootings (Toppo, 2003). According to Sgt. Pat Kissane, vice president of the New Jersey Association of School Resource Officers, "after Sept. 11, everyone was focused on bridges and tunnels, but nobody was focused on schools.... But there had been small acts of terrorism going on at public schools throughout history, such as [the shootings at] Columbine. The Department of Homeland Security should be focused on schools as well" (Carroll, 2005: A1). The school shooting at Red Lake High School (Red Lake, Minnesota) on March 21, 2005, has drawn comparisons with Columbine and has increased discussion among school resource officers for more sophisticated security plans for schools (Cauchon, 2005: 4A). …