Group protests stealth recruiting by military at Palm Beach County schools

Susan Van Houten says her son faces a regular barrage of military recruiting at his Palm Beach County high school. She doesn't like it and can't stop it, but she wants parents to know they can mount a defense against some less-obvious recruiting off campus.

Van Houten, whose family lives west of Lake Worth, was among four protesters in a rain-soaked rally Thursday outside school district headquarters in Palm Springs to target so-called "stealth recruiting" of their teenage children during wartime.

The 2001 federal No Child Left Behind law enables recruiters from the U.S. armed services to obtain high school students' names, addresses and telephone numbers from their schools. Outspoken opponents, primarily peace-group activists, charge that it's a sneaky way of reaching prospective recruits.

But the law states that students or parents can opt out of this disclosure if they sign a form. A Palm Beach County School Board policy requires the opt-out forms be returned within 10 days after high school student handbooks are distributed.

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