Despite protests, DeKalb proceeds with Marines school

[CatWoman]

County plans to open public high school in partnership with U.S. Marine Corps

DeKalb County school officials are forging ahead with plans to open a first-of-its-kind military-style public high school, despite a growing campaign by activists upset at the involvement of the U.S. Marines.

“It’s the worst thing that’s ever happened in Georgia education,” said Michael Burke, a DeKalb resident and spokesman for the Georgia Veterans Alliance, a group that aligns itself with the work of the Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition, among others.

“The whole thing is just a ploy” to help the Marines recruit, Burke said. “We expect to fight it tooth and nail.”

That response irritated DeKalb school system officials. They said it stereotypes the proposed Marine school and students who may be interested in it. The protests — mounted largely through e-mails and letters — have not deterred them, they said.

“This is not a training ground to send kids into the military,” said DeKalb schools Superintendent Crawford Lewis, whose system, with 99,700 students, is the state’s third-largest. “My job is not to look after a portion of children but all the children. One size does not fit all. For the mom who believes her child is capable of going to college but lacks discipline, this is a choice.”

A DeKalb school spokesman said Monday the system has hired a commandant for the school, which system officials hope to open in August. The commandant was selected from a list of three candidates from the Marines.

A memorandum of understanding with the Marines has not yet been signed, although DeKalb school board members authorized the school’s concept Sept. 9.

The DeKalb Marine Corps Institute will be the first of its kind in Georgia, and joins an expanding network of such schools nationwide. The first public military academy opened in Richmond, Va., in 1980, and more than a dozen now exist in places from New York to Wisconsin.

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/dekalb/stories/2009/03/23/marines_school.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab

[Raskolnik]

1. While there undoubtedly will be pitfalls to avoid, I very much doubt whether this can be considered

"the worst thing that’s ever happened in Georgia education."

[gratuitous]

2. The "response irritated DeKalb school system officials"

Yeah, what could possibly go wrong with this idea? It'd be no more problematic than the School of the Americas. Oops, that's the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. Yeah, that's the ticket.

[Raskolnik]

3. Do you really think they are going to set up a counter-insurgency / assasination school in Georgia?

Really?

[gratuitous]

5. How about a feeder school for it?

Heaven knows our society isn't militaristic enough!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. Will they beat the unruly tykes into submission?

"Sir! Yes, SIR!!"