BOARDWATCH: Veterans for Peace continues to criticize CPS militarization, planning Memorial Day work...'we attended the [2013] Memorial Day Parade expecting to see a somber tribute to those killed in wars. We were shocked to see that the majority of the parade was youth in military uniforms...'
Arny Stieber of Veterans for Peace reads the group's statement to the May 25, 2016 meeting of the Chicago Board of Education. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.[Editor's Note: The following remarks were prepared for delivery to the Chicago Board of Education's May 25, 2016 meeting by Arny Stieber, of Veterans for Peace. They were provided to us by the speaker and are reprinted here as he provided them to Substance for publication. This speech is followed by the Veterans for Peace Memorial Day actions press release. George N. Schmidt, Editor, Substance].
www.ChicagoVFP.org, www.NoMilitary.org, Facebook and Twitter - DeMilitarizeCPS
May 25, 2016
TO: Chicago Board of Education and Rahm Emanuel
My name is Arny Stieber. I’m a grandfather, retired CEO, and an Army, infantry veteran of the U.S. war against the people of Viet Nam.
The Memorial Day Parade is this weekend. That event started our Education Not Militarization initiative. In 2013 several Veterans For Peace members attended the Memorial Day Parade expecting to see a somber tribute to all those killed in wars. We were shocked to see that the majority of the parade was youth in military uniforms. We began researching and found that CPS has more youth in military training – over 10,000 – than any other school system in the nation. In the fall of 2013 we started attending and speaking at these meetings. We have learned much, and we want to learn more. To better understand the CPS militarization program, Veterans For Peace members met with your JROTC staff on May 5th. We gave them our Statement of Purpose, our position paper on The Military Model and Children, our featured speaker flyer about Rory Fanning, and a flyer on our billboard initiative. These are in your packet today. We received information on your program and your curriculum guides. We each presented our views on militarization. Our views were dissimilar, but we did agree that youth need critical thinking skills.
We offered your JROTC staff the opportunity to exercise the students’ critical thinking skills by having Veterans For Peace speak at each of your seven military academies and all of your JROTC and Cadet classes. The JROTC staff is considering our offer.
We would like to make a similar offer to this Board. We would like to meet with you as a Board – not individually for 15 minutes – but collectively, and have a roundtable discussion on the militarization of youth. We believe, like you do, that our youth need a broad, solid education in a variety of disciplines, to lead a fulfilling life. We feel that this discussion would set an example for CPS students that open dialogue is an effective avenue for the development of critical thinking.
We are open as to time frame and venue. Your staff has my contact information. Consider our offer. We look forward to hearing from you.
Education Not Militarization. Thank you.
Veterans For Peace is an international 501(c)3 organization founded in the U.S. in 1985. We are the only veterans organization in the world that is recognized by the United Nations.
