By Tim Redmond
It’s no surprise, really, that the School Board voted to reinstate JROTC last night.. ONce Norman Yee announced he was going to support the program, the deal was done.
By the way: We endorsed Yee in part because he voted not to allow phys ed credit for JROTC, and without PE credit, the program’s going to die eventually anyway because not enough students will sign up. Now, since the state (sort of) claims that JROTC qualifies for credit, Yee says he’s willing to accept that and keep the miitary recruitment program going.
I’m not happy about that, and neither are a lot of other progressives who supported Yee. But for the record, I don’t think Yee would ever have brought this back on his own; it took Rachel Norton and Jill Wynns to do that. And love JROTC or hate it, credit (or blame) for this lies squarely with those two board members.
Not letting Yee off the hook, but facts is facts.
Now then: It’s still not as simple as it seems. Even if Norton is right, and the board’s resolution killing PE credit only covered last year, it’s still not clear that the San Francisco schools can legally award class credit for JROTC. IN most cases, only people who have a state teaching credential are allowed to teach classes for credit in California public schools. The California Department of Education says that JROTC instructors can teach PE wihtout that credential:
JROTC instructors, who have a state and federal credential to teach the military course, would not need a PE credential, said Phil Lafontaine, the department’s director of professional development and curriculum support.
“They’re appropriately credentialed,” he said, even if students are earning PE credit.
But John T. Affedlt, managing attorney for the San Francisco law firm Public Advocates, says that’s completely wrong. In a May 12, 2009 letter to the SFUSD (warning, PDF), he notes:
Mr. Lafontaine’s opinion is not only wrong, it is utterly of no consequence … in California, it is the Commission on Teacher Credntialing (CTC) — not the California Department of Education — which implements and interprets state law regarding what constitutes appropriate credentials.
He adds:
There is no statute authorizing individuals possessing only JROTC credentials to teach PE.
So the School Board and legal counsel have some figuring to do. I think the whole PE credit question ought to come back up before the board — and JROTC supporters should hold off on celebrating until that messy legal issue is settled.