June 2009 Newsletter

Chicago-Style Marine High School Proposed in Georgia

Question: What’s the goal of a public Marine high school – education or recruitment?
Question: Would the marine school be a training ground for the president’s
proposed “civilian” army?
Question: Will the new U.S. Secretary of Education, Chicago‘s Arne Duncan,
multiply military schools?

While the ROTC flourishes in Georgia, a planned Marine High School is on hold after fierce opposition surfaced in DeKalb County.  The idea has its roots in Illinois, where community organizer Barack Obama became U.S. senator, then president.  On January 20th after taking the oath of office, President Obama appointed Arne Duncan, Chicago public schools’ chief executive officer since 2001, as his new U.S. Secretary of Education.  Duncan attended the University of Chicago and Harvard University, graduating in 1987 with a sociology degree.

The Chicago public school system includes six full-site military academies, each partnered with a different branch of the military.  Chicago is the only city with schools dedicated to the Marines, Army, Navy and Air Force.  They include the Marine Institute, Rickover Naval Academy, an Air Force academy, Chicago and Carver military academies, plus 33 high school-based Junior ROTC programs overseen by an army lieutenant colonel.  Another 20 Chicago public schools have active Middle School Cadet Corps programs.

  • To read the rest of this article in PDF format, please click here.