The federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) contains a provision requiring schools to provide students’ names, addresses, and phone numbers to military recruiters, upon request by recruiters. The penalty to schools for not doing so is potential loss of federal funds.

However, the law also gives parents and students the right to “opt out” of the disclosure of this information. Exactly what that opt-out right is was clarified in 2006 when the Vermont Legislature passed, and the governor signed, Act. 127. This law requires schools to inform Grade 9-12 students and their parents of the right to “opt out” of the requirement that student contact information be provided to military recruiters -- while still receiving information from other sources, such as colleges.

You must inform your school if you wish to opt out. A simple letter to the school principal will do. If you wish, download our opt-out form and submit that to your school.

If your school does not provide you with notice of your opt-out right, please let us know (by e-mail or phone – 223-6304). Schools must follow the law to help protect individuals’ privacy rights.

Act 127 clarifies a right that had been disputed. Some schools insisted students did not have “separate” opt-out rights; that is, these schools said that if a student opted out of receiving information from the military, the student automatically opted out of receiving information from colleges (or vice versa).

Act 127 makes clear that “A school board shall enable the secondary student and the student’s parents or guardians to disallow provision of student contact information to either military recruiters or institutions of higher education, while allowing provision of information to the other.”

The ACLU recognizes that students have the right to be informed of the range of post-graduation opportunities available to them. But students should be able to explore those opportunities on their own terms, with their rights to privacy protected.

More information:

• FAQs about FERPA, NCLB, and privacy rights.
• Sample opt-out form for families or students to send to their school (PDF document).
• Federal law allows families to opt out of the release of other kinds of student information (called "directory information"). Schools may wish to download our sample "Opt-out Form On Release of Student Information," which covers both directory information and recruiter information. The form is available either in PDF or MS-Word format.
• The Electronic Privacy Information Center offers a detailed analysis of the Pentagon's military recruitment database at EPIC's Web site.
• Leave My Child Alone is a family privacy project of Working assets, Mainstreet Moms, and ACORN. The site has lots of information about military recruitment issues.
• The Resource Center for Nonviolence has very specific information about the NCLB's military recruitment provision, opt-out rights, and how the issue is playing out in schools around the country. Sample school policies on protection of student information are included.
• Students as well as parents can exercise opt-out rights, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
• The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAP) is a series of tests the military uses for evaluation and placement of recruits. Some schools use them as general tests, since the military allows schools to use them for free. Must a student take the test, if given in school? The American Friends Service Committee Web site offers an overview of the test, and students' rights if a school "requires" participation..

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