Maryland Governor Signs Measure Prohibiting Automatic Release of Student Information to Military Recruiters

First of its kind law will protect student privacy in public schools and parental decision-making rights.

Annapolis, MD, April 13, 2010  - Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed a measure into law today that prohibits the automatic release of student information to military recruiters gathered as a result of the administration of a military test in the state’s high schools. A cross section of Maryland groups, including the Maryland Coalition to Protect Student Privacy, the Maryland NAACP, MD-PTA, the ACLU-MD, Progressive Maryland, and Peace Action Montgomery lobbied for the passage of the bill.

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The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, (ASVAB) is the military's entrance exam that is given to fresh recruits to determine their aptitude for various military occupations. The test is also used as a recruiting tool in 11,900 schools across the country. The 4 hour test is used by military recruiting services to gain valuable information on more than 600,000 high school students across the country every year, the vast majority of whom are under the age of 18. In many cases, students take the test without parental knowledge or consent.

Although the military promotes the ASVAB as a voluntary "Career Exploration Program" administered to juniors and seniors, the US Army Recruiting Command's School Recruiting Program Handbook, USAREC Pamphlet 350-13 says the primary purpose of the ASVAB is to provide military recruiters "with a source of leads of high school juniors and seniors qualified through the ASVAB for enlistment into the Active Army and Army Reserve." (1)

The homepage of the Pentagon website, www.asvabprogram.com does not identify what the acronym "ASVAB" stands for and fails to mention the primary purpose of the testing regime. In high schools throughout the country, the ASVAB is often promoted without revealing its tie-in to the military or its primary function as a recruitment tool.

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