Randall's Truth in Recruitment Spring Fundraiser

Truth in Recruitment (TIR) works to assure that all students can evaluate all of their options for their future steps after high school without undue pressure from military recruiters. While a military career may be a good choice for some, everyone needs to see their whole range of options without one possibility being privileged or misrepresented over others.

TIR began in 2011 when Santa Barbara High School (SBHS) students spoke out against the pervasive presence of military recruiters as guest speakers in classes and their casual presence on campus.

In 2014, as a culmination of our two-year campaign, the Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD) school board passed a policy setting appropriate limits to recruiters’ access to students. 

The policy guidelines include limiting recruiters to two visits a year with no more than three recruiters on campus at a time, and no solicitation of student contact information directly from students (which lets parents stay involved in the choices their children are making). TIR has continued to partner with the SBUSD to oversee the policy’s implementation and documents when the guidelines are not observed.

In Santa Maria, we are working with community members for a similar policy to limit unsuitable recruiter access in the Santa Maria Joint Unified High School District (SMJUHSD) and for equal access for TIR to present the full range of options available to students (like the Hancock Promise program at Allan Hancock College).

In 2018, a National Guard recruiting office on-campus at Santa Maria High School was closed when a California Public Records Act request that showed that the office violated district policies. As a reprisal, TIR was restricted from participating in career fairs due to “the content" of our presentation (according to school officials). Throughout 2019, TIR worked with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California (ACLU) to establish TIR’s equal access to high schools in Santa Maria. 

After the ACLU wrote the Santa Barbara County Education Office (SBCEO) about the situation in Santa Maria, the SBCEO informed SMJUHSD that they would no longer support career fairs where the military was present if TIR was not allowed.

In 2020, TIR staff, steering committee, parent and student allies met with Santa Maria Superintendent Antonio Garcia to discuss the unfettered military presence in Santa Maria schools. The Superintendent expressed concern about the recruiters' violations of students’ rights to privacy that TIR reported to him and the need for equitable information about career options. We have had subsequent conversations with SMJUHSD school board member Diana Perez to advocate for a policy to provide appropriate limits for military recruiters in the district.

Funding to maintain TIR staff and to build our steering committee will support our long-term effort to develop a coalition of north-county and mid-county students, parents, veterans, teachers, along with social justice organizations to secure equal access for TIR in the Santa Maria schools and to pass a school board policy limiting recruiter presence and to work for similar common-sense approaches throughout Santa Barbara County.

We are committed to the vitality of our Truth in Community work and are focused on expanding our steering community, building a more diverse body of members and enhancing our sustainability to do this critical work.

Your support benefits the students and families of our County, especially those who may be least aware of what is possible for them, and helps them to have full and accurate information they can use to make their own decisions for their future, free of unfair outside pressure or manipulation.