[CSRA Peace] Contacting Georgia State Senator William Jackson (SS-24)-Columbia County

[Ayman Fadel]

State Senator William Jackson represents Columbia and neighboring counties
(not Richmond). He sits on the Veterans,
<http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/senate/veterans.php>  Military and
Homeland Security Senate Committee. This is the committee which is holding a
hearing on SR-955, the
<http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/fulltext/sr955.htm>  resolution
regarding military recruiters in public schools, this Wednesday, March 10,
2010.

 

If you live in his district, please contact him to express your support for
this bill.

 

Capitol Office:

 

    * 319-A Coverdell Legislative Office Building

    * Atlanta, Ga 30334

    * Phone: (404) 656-5114

    * Fax: (404) 657-0797

District Office: 

*	PO Box 528
*	Appling, Ga 30802 
*	Phone: (706) 863-5818 (O)
*	(706) 541-0197 (F)

bill.jackson at senate.ga.gov

 

This is the letter I have mailed and faxed to Senator Jackson:

 

Senator Bill Jackson

319-A Coverdell Legislative Office Building

Atlanta, GA 30334

 

March 8, 2010

 

Honorable Senator Jackson,

I am writing as your constituent regarding SR-955 urging the Georgia
Department of Education and all school systems in Georgia to safeguard the
rights of children under the age of 17 from military recruitment and to
implement basic safeguards for the recruitment of 17-year-olds.

            I enthusiastically support this legislation for the following
reasons:

 

1. It urges Georgia schools to conform with international treaty
obligations, namely the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of
the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict.

2. It urges Georgia schools to implement the No Child Left Behind Act's
mandate to allow guardians to opt-out of releasing their wards' personal
information to military recruiters. Currently, in Columbia County, high
school handbooks do not mention that the students' personal information is
transferred to military recruiters and that guardians, if they do not wish
this transfer to take place, must write a letter to the student's principal
requesting that the information not be transferred. Indeed, the policy and
procedure document, which one could hardly expect a parent or student to
read, does not contain the word "military" (see below). Note that in
neighboring Richmond County, the opt-out form is listed in its Frequently
Used Forms page (see below).

3. It properly limits the military recruitment function of the Armed
Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) tests.

4. It empowers parents and guardians to exercise their right to prevent
their children's participation in non-educationally related activities
promoting military enlistment.




I am eager to hear your opinion on these issues, and I hope that, as a
member of the Veterans, Military and Homeland Security Senate Committee, you
will do everything in your power to give this historic resolution a fair
hearing and smooth passage to a vote in the Senate. 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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