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The number of CPS students who choose to bow out of the Junior Reserve Officer’s Training Corps (JROTC ) during their freshmen year has skyrocketed in Chicago. More and more youth are taking advantage of the school district’s pledge to end automatic enrollment into the controversial military-run training program.
JROTC’s Beginnings
At its core, the Junior Reserve Officer’s Training Corps is not meant to be involuntary. Founded as part of the National Defense Act of 1916, the program started as an elective for students who were interested in learning more about being in the military.
The New York Times wrote that the Pentagon itself said requiring students to take them goes against its guidelines. Even still, evidence exists showing thousands of schools across the country funneling students into a program that they didn’t sign up for.
Chicago’s CPS schools have boasted in the past that they have the largest JROTC program in the country. Their statistics included the number of cadets and total programs. That being said, many parents and family members who had found out about the involuntary sign-ups were not happy about when and how often this had happened.
Becoming the Default
Before last spring, thousands of Chicago Public School students were auto-enrolled in their school’s Junior Reserve Officer’s Training Corps during freshmen year due to funding and budget cuts. The CPS Inspector General filed a report in May of 2022 stating that:
Schools with 90% or more freshmen enrolled in JROTC were almost all on the South or West sides of Chicago.
The principals in these low-income areas were put under further inspection by CPS. Many admitted that auto-enrollment became a necessity after losing or not being able to afford a PE teacher. According to CNN, CPS schools were saving money by using the JROTC program as their primary source of physical education. Some principals told CPS that:
JROTC saved their school money, since CPS and the DOD share the cost of JROTC instructors, while PE teachers’ salaries come out of school budgets.
Breaking the Cycle
This process became too commonplace in underfunded schools. CPS students from low-income and single-parent households became the JROTC’s most common new drafts, even though this effect wasn’t intentional.
After numerous complaints from parents and faculty members, word reached the district’s Office of the Inspector General about an investigation by Chalkbeat in 2021. This investigation found that hundreds of Chicago kids were automatically enrolled in JROTC at ten high schools. There was also a predominance of Black and Latino students.
The Inspector General’s investigation led CPS to enact a pledge, claiming that they would end JROTC auto-enrollment for all of their schools. They also created a policy for their high schools. Each of them now have to provide a suitable physical education class to every student in attendance. Hence, this meant that the era of involuntary sign-ups was over. This, combined with a parental written note being required to join JROTC, is what caused the program’s fall in student count.
Going Downhill
After the pledge and policy came into effect, JROTC freshmen enrollment took a dive. In his yearly report, the Inspector General discovered that at eight schools where automatic freshmen enrollment was most common.
However, the number of freshmen enlisting in JROTC had “dramatically” fallen. The number of freshmen dropped by more than 66 percent between this past school year and the current academic year.
This decline greatly exceeds the drop in the schools’ overall freshmen enrollment as well. The number of students leaving JROTC exceeds the decrease in student enrollment during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The effect has been bad news for the Army’s recruitment goals, which it is already failing to hit. This response from what used to be their most responsive city will definitely worry military officials.
Written by Ogechi Onyewuchi
Sources:
CNN News: Mandatory military instruction affects Black and Latino high school students most frequently, report says
The New York Times: Thousands of Teens Are Being Pushed Into Military’s Junior R.O.T.C.
WBEZ Chicago: Freshmen JROTC enrollment plunges after overhaul by Chicago Public Schools
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