How Did Militarism Dodge Bullet? : Schools: The $851,557 earmarked this year for JROTC in San Diego is a case of misplaced priorities, both fiscally and educationally.

At a time when the San Diego city school board is having to make painful budget cuts, which are seriously affecting the quality of education in public schools, one program has been spared: the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps.

This year’s budget for the military education program is $851,557, of which 75%--$638,557--is paid for with our local educational funds, a slight increase over last year. Meanwhile, 305 teacher aide positions were eliminated, and many other school programs were trimmed or abolished.

This is a case of misplaced budget priorities for the schools and the federal government, which funded the remaining $213,000 for San Diego’s program. The Cold War is over, and opportunities in the military are shrinking.

It’s also a case of misplaced educational priorities. In these violent times, schools should be teaching young people about peaceful solutions to conflict, not militaristic ones.

But, you ask, isn’t the purpose of JROTC to build character and responsibility? And what does that have to do with the kind of violence that is growing in our neighborhoods like a fungus?

If that’s how you see it, you’re certainly not alone. The sharp crease of a military uniform often brings out the noblest of intentions, especially in proud parents who have worked so hard to make something of their child. Yet the reality of militarism and its effects on society are quite different than the image its promoters portray.

I’m not saying that military education and service produce criminals. But the training and the glorification of military power help create a mind-set of good guys versus bad guys, and encourage the idea of fighting violence with violence: If we have too much crime, hire more police, crack some heads, buy a gun. That type of thinking might work on the battlefield, but it also tends to bring the battlefield home.

JROTC is a program that trains young people in the use of violence. Global conflicts are viewed as matters to be settled with violence, or the threat of violence.

JROTC classes must be taught by a retired officers and noncommissioned officers. The curriculum is determined by the military--not the local school district.

As a result, JROTC instruction presents a one-sided view of historical and political events, and encourages students to propagandize on behalf of the military in a partisan way that would not be tolerated in other classes.

For example, one JROTC text, “Naval Science II,” gives the military position on the causes of various wars and then urges cadets to “tell the people in your high school and community why America needs a strong Navy.”

In a city such as San Diego, where the military ranks as the No. 2 industry (possibly No. 1 if defense contractors were included in the Chamber of Commerce’s tally), it’s no surprise that the school board members and other political leaders bow to the Pentagon’s desires. What is surprising is the extent to which we let them do it.

Last Christmas, a Navy representative dressed as Santa Claus appeared at Horton Elementary school and passed out military recruitment propaganda. This reprehensible and inappropriate act was in clear violation of the district’s own policy, yet, as he traveled from classroom to classroom, nothing was done to stop him.

San Diego Unified is not the only district in the county that spends scarce education dollars on military training. At least four others, including Escondido, Oceanside and Sweetwater, also have JROTC programs, on which they are spending a total of more than $200,000 this year.

Other California school districts are now cutting back, including Grossmont Union High School District, which last year cut the number of its JROTC programs in half.

Isn’t it time that we start asking ourselves and our leaders why we’re using our scarce public resources to teach children militarism instead of math or science, and violence instead of learning to work out their differences peacefully?