Should The High School Military Test Be A Mandatory Test?

High school students interested in serving in oura symbolic act such as No Child Left Behind, the
armed forces must take an entrance examinationmilitary should not be recruiting high school drop
called the Armed Services Vocational Aptitudeouts, or asking students disinterested in school to
Battery (ASVAB). The ASVAB is used to notconsider dropping out. Reporting to the U.S.
only assess a recruit's aptitude for militarySenate Armed Services Committee on January
service, but also help identify their Military31, General Thomas Bostick, Commanding General
Operational Specialty - service-speak for job - ifof the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, stated
they choose to serve. According to the U.S.that the percentage of high school graduates
Department of Defense, over 722,000 high schoolamong military recruits had fallen to a low of 79
students took the ASVAB during the past schoolpercent.
yearI don't believe we need a Congressional hearing to
The ASVAB is also used as a mandatory test forresolve these problems; there is nothing to be
high school sophomores and juniors at hundredsgained from such theatre. Instead, we need some
of schools in 34 states. The schools that makesolutions that are fair and easy to implement. I
the ASVAB mandatory share the results with thepersonally do not object to the test itself, or the
military and assist their students in their careeridea of making it mandatory at wartime, but
development, regardless of whether they decidethere should be an opt-out check box right on the
to enlist.front page of the exam booklet. If a student
There are problems with this practice.checks no, then no should be recorded in the
First, the mandatory test gives the military thecollective database of test takers. It's not too
opportunity to circumvent the opt-out provisionsdifficult to add one checkbox to a three hour
under No Child Left Behind; a student may bestandardized exam.
forced to take the test even though he's askedSecond, if a school in need of improvement under
to opt out of communications with the branchesNo Child Left Behind uses the ASVAB as a career
of the armed forces,assessment tool, it should allowed to use it as a
Second, school administrators have the say as toschool assessment. Improvement in performance
whether the ASVAB results can be shared withon the ASVAB should carry bonus credits
military recruiters, assuming they require the testtowards a school's efforts to take itself out of
for their own purposes. In effect, a schoolNeed of Improvement status.
administrator is placed in the role of circumventingThirdly, and I stated this in a prior column, the
the wishes of students who are not interested inmilitary should not call high school students until
military service, as well as their parents. A highthey have reached their 18th birthday or three
school principal or superintendent should not bemonths before their graduation, whichever is
put in this position; an exceptionally vocal group ofearlier. If we are to leave no child left behind in
parents could get him fired.the classroom and make all children proficient, we
Third, the ASVAB is given to students who haveshould not try to leave them behind on a
not turned 18. The military should not bebattlefield before they have had a chance to earn
contacting students who are more than a yeartheir high school diploma.
from graduating high school. Given the passage of