JROTC issue not going away

Supporters of JROTC are hoping to revisit the issue. Newsom and Feinstein are searching for ways to reverse the decision. The Chron reports: Newsom tries to find solution to rescue JROTC

He said he has talked with Feinstein and said he felt certain the San Francisco school board vote was an embarrassment to Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who represents the city and already has had to defend her hometown from charges of faulty "values."

But the national politicians seem to be essentially powerless, too, when it comes to changing such a decision by a local school board.

As the article notes, the BOS is poised to pass a resolution in support of the ban, which will pour a little more gasoline on the fire and keep the anti-SF headlines coming. The lame duck BOE will not revisit the vote. The only hope lies with the incoming BOE, but those prospects are dim. If ban supporters Sanchez or Mar lead the next BOE, it will be exceedingly difficult to bring this back before the board no matter what the new commissioners think—and all three expressed tepid ambivalence on the issue during their campaigns.

As you might expect, the national press and the right wing of the blogosphere is lapping up the JROTC ban story. What better way to paint our town as a haven for American-hating extremism. This decision will become a poster child for the "San Francisco Values" meme. Nice job BOE.

Jeff Jacoby of the Globe wrote this editorial, which is getting published far and wide: Anti-military bigotry by the bay

"IN THE FIRST place God made idiots," observed Mark Twain. "This was for practice. Then he made school boards." The San Francisco Board of Education's 4-2 vote last week to abolish the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program, which has been active in the city's high schools for 90 years, tends to support his view.

Closer to home, Debra Saunders of the Chron wrote this op-ed, which is also getting picked up in many outlets nationally: San Francisco Unified: Ruthless Political Correctness Run Amuck

In one vote, board members Dan Kelly, Mark Sanchez, Sarah Lipson and Eric Mar buried a program that can provide structure for the at-risk students whose lives they claim to want to improve. Left-leaning politics clearly are more important to these four than the futures of flesh-and-blood teenagers who may fall through the educational cracks because they are struggling to develop the self-discipline and leadership skills that JROTC fosters.

On the other side of the ledger, BeyondChron published this article written by one of the activists who worked in support of the ban: Ousting JROTC: A San Francisco Value

The November 14 San Francisco School Board vote to phase out JROTC from high schools in the district was a litmus test on how pro-gay the city really is. The Board passed the test with flying colors, approving the resolution from openly gay member Mark Sanchez with a thumbs up from Sarah Lipson, Eric Mar and Dan Kelly. Jill Wynns and Norman Yee turned thumbs down on the ouster of the Pentagon program whose purpose is to recruit young people into the military.

Normally I am happy to see the national right wing take mistaken aim at San Francisco. There are so many issues where we can stand up for liberal and progressive values that are meaningful, populist and important. Not in this case. This issue just provides potent ammunition for the right wing. It is a real setback for those of us of the "libertarian democrat" persuasion. Jerry Brown gets it. In the Saunders op-ed he is quoted:

"The notion of the new left is decentralization. It's choice. It's respect for difference. It's diversity. All four of those principles were fundamentally violated by the school board."

"I oppose the war in Iraq, too, but that has nothing to do with the value of ROTC and the right of people to choose that."