Starbase demographics
February 11, 2010 7:28 am
Demographic information readily available from the district does not provide a fine-grained detail of fourth- and fifth-grade students targeted by the military’s STARBASE recruiting program, but it is clear that poor and minority students are over-represented.
Of the 18 schools participating this year, all but four are Title 1 schools. All but three have higher percentages of minority students than the district-wide minority enrollment (46%). All but four have higher poverty than the district at large (45%).
The schools participating average 11 percentage points more minority and 17 percentage points more poor than the district as a whole, even when factoring in the four wealthy schools that participate.
While many participating staff and families may swear there is no recruiting going on, the program is funded from the US Department of Defense recruiting budget. The military is clear about their need to target potential recruits early.
Student information is shared with the military with little or no notice to parents (or opt-out opportunities), and the program is explicit in its goals of improving the image of the military with young children.
Here are the schools participating this year, with their demographic information.
| School | free/reduced % | minority% | Title 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Humboldt | 100.00% | 88.40% | yes |
| Rosa Parks | 94.80% | 85.60% | yes |
| Rigler | 86.10% | 79.00% | yes |
| Peninsula | 78.10% | 73.00% | yes |
| James John | 79.70% | 72.80% | yes |
| Faubion | 70.70% | 69.70% | yes |
| Whitman | 86.70% | 68.80% | yes |
| Lee | 71.70% | 67.70% | yes |
| Marysville | 80.30% | 59.00% | yes |
| Bridger | 74.10% | 58.10% | yes |
| Grout | 70.20% | 50.70% | yes |
| Woodstock | 27.30% | 50.30% | no |
| Arleta | 66.40% | 47.90% | yes |
| Markham | 54.70% | 47.80% | yes |
| Irvington | 34.60% | 47.70% | yes |
| Buckman | 28.70% | 23.10% | no |
| Cleary | 14.40% | 19.70% | no |
| Laurelhurst | 10.60% | 19.30% | no |
| Averages: | 62.73% | 57.14% | |
| District: | 45.00% | 46.00% |
Steve Rawley published PPS Equity from 2008 to 2010, when he moved his family out of the district.
filed under: Data Crunch, Demographics, Military Recruiting, National
February 11th, 2010 at 10:59 am
Steve, Starbase’s promotional materials say that they target Title I schools. I could find the quote again but their annual report directs Starbase staff to document when school districts refuse to work with them.
A quick Google or Youtube search results in hundreds of links to stories of abusive military recruitment tactics.
One news video includes a high school teacher talking about military recruiters targetting Latino students and telling the students that they could get them legal status for themselves or their families.
Although that story is specific to high school student recruiting, it is indicative of the less than honest strategies used on elementary students in the Starbase program. First to contact, first to contract!