JROTC: The Military, Education and American Society
In recent years, the Department of Defense has been responsible for the expansion of JROTC nationwide. According to the Army JROTC website, JROTC has expanded to 1555 schools today and to every state in the nation and American schools overseas. Cadet enrollment has grown to 273,000 cadets with 3,900 professional instructors in the classrooms. JROTC has also expanded in Philadelphia, due to the efforts of Philadelphia School District CEO Paul Vallas, who has brought his experiences in working with the Chicago School District to bear on the matter. Many parents and activists who are not only vehemently opposed to JROTC, but who are also alarmed by its rapid expansion have advocated alternatives—namely, Peace Academies— that they believe are far more effective in encouraging students to resolve conflict peacefully, without resort to the use of force.
In October 2006, CENFAD will be holding a day-long symposium in of roundtable discussions on the nature of JROTC, marginalized youth, and its role in our schools. The symposium is meant to provide an interdisciplinary forum for the following questions: should the military and the DoD take upon themselves so crucial an educational role? Is JROTC beneficial? What is the significance of JROTC’s expansion in the post-9/11 world?
CENFAD has so far managed to secure the participation of Dr. Michael Neiberg, author of Making Citizen Soldiers: ROTC and the Ideology of American Military Service; Dr. David R. Segal, author of Recruiting for Uncle Sam; Dr. Catherine Lutz, author of Homefront: A Military City and the American 20th Century; and Dr. Arthur Coumbe, author of U.S. Army Cadet Command – The 10 Year History.
Student Research
- Discipline, Contradiction, and the Mis-Education of Philadelphia
Wes Enzinna, History Honors Thesis.
The African and African-American Curriculum in Philadelphia High Schools and the Challenge of Junior ROTC, 1967-2005. - “Tangibles and Intangibles”
John Mulholland, Diamond Scholar Research, Temple Honors Program/
The Search for an Effective and Comprehensive Evaluation of JROTC.
Links of Interest