The Added and Unnecessary Costs of Junior ROTC
Stuart Nachbar
May 29, 2009
I have written past posts in support of Junior ROTC and I have no reason to deviate from my position. However, I believe some past practices need to change, specifically that the military should pay one hundred percent of the costs to administer the program on high school campuses, excluding facilities maintenance, which the schools do anyway. Military instructors are required to have military credentials, but not teaching credentials as physical education instructors do.
While I do not question a drill instructor's ability to keep a JROTC class fit, I am concerned that the wages to pay these instructors for an elective activity might be considerably higher than they are for teachers with the same number of years of experience.
For example, today I am reading about an advertised position for a JROTC instructor in the Fort Worth (TX) public school system.The job requirements for one position, for a Senior Army Instructor in a Fort Worth Texas area high school, included rank as a retired Army commissioned officer (up to Colonel O-6); Warrant Officer W-3,4; or Senior Non Commissioned Officer (NCO)/E8 or E9) with a minimum of 20 years military service. Candidates for this position could not be retired from military service longer than 3 years.
And Fox 13 from Memphis reported last week that JROTC instructors in area high schools receive salaries that range from $65,529 to $81,120. According to the same source, the average salary for a Memphis public school teacher is approximately $51,000. I would not doubt that the job requirements for a JROTC instructor in Memphis are similar to those for the same position in Fort Worth.
I would hope that a state or local board of education that makes the investment in military education would at least grant students credit for the effort. But at the same time, I would like to see the military pay one hundred percent of the salaries of the instructors as well as the costs of military equipment.
It has not been unusual for the military to spend millions of dollars for such recruiting tools as interactive video games and NASCAR sponsorships. And, through the National Guard Youth Foundation, the military runs a Youth Challenge Program that provides military-style training to over 85,000 at-risk youth. The Foundation sponsors a race car in the Indy Championship Series.
If the military has been willing to pay the costs of recruitment advertising, video games and race car sponsorships, as well as training for at-risk youths, then they should pay the full salaries of all of their JROTC instructors.
The JROTC program is probably the most important recruitment tool the military has to find candidates in the high schools. But school districts should not get stuck with part of the bill.
Stuart Nachbar blogs on thought and fiction in education and politics at www.EducatedQuest.com. His new novel, Defending College Heights, is based around the investigation into the murder of a U.S. Army recruiter in a campus community.
While I do not question a drill instructor's ability to keep a JROTC class fit, I am concerned that the wages to pay these instructors for an elective activity might be considerably higher than they are for teachers with the same number of years of experience.
For example, today I am reading about an advertised position for a JROTC instructor in the Fort Worth (TX) public school system.The job requirements for one position, for a Senior Army Instructor in a Fort Worth Texas area high school, included rank as a retired Army commissioned officer (up to Colonel O-6); Warrant Officer W-3,4; or Senior Non Commissioned Officer (NCO)/E8 or E9) with a minimum of 20 years military service. Candidates for this position could not be retired from military service longer than 3 years.
And Fox 13 from Memphis reported last week that JROTC instructors in area high schools receive salaries that range from $65,529 to $81,120. According to the same source, the average salary for a Memphis public school teacher is approximately $51,000. I would not doubt that the job requirements for a JROTC instructor in Memphis are similar to those for the same position in Fort Worth.
I would hope that a state or local board of education that makes the investment in military education would at least grant students credit for the effort. But at the same time, I would like to see the military pay one hundred percent of the salaries of the instructors as well as the costs of military equipment.
It has not been unusual for the military to spend millions of dollars for such recruiting tools as interactive video games and NASCAR sponsorships. And, through the National Guard Youth Foundation, the military runs a Youth Challenge Program that provides military-style training to over 85,000 at-risk youth. The Foundation sponsors a race car in the Indy Championship Series.
If the military has been willing to pay the costs of recruitment advertising, video games and race car sponsorships, as well as training for at-risk youths, then they should pay the full salaries of all of their JROTC instructors.
The JROTC program is probably the most important recruitment tool the military has to find candidates in the high schools. But school districts should not get stuck with part of the bill.
Stuart Nachbar blogs on thought and fiction in education and politics at www.EducatedQuest.com. His new novel, Defending College Heights, is based around the investigation into the murder of a U.S. Army recruiter in a campus community.
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