Organizing around military testing and student privacy has the capacity to produce a rare commodity in social activism: concrete, measurable results. Activists are able to view data on how many students take the ASVAB from year to year and track progress.
1. The National Coalition to Protect Student Privacy’s website provides the most up-to-date data on ASVAB testing in every state and territory, including how many students in each state are taking the test and which “release option” schools have chosen.
2. Civil liberties groups are natural allies in this work, but it is just as important to reach out to parent-teacher associations and teachers’ unions.
3. Talk directly to school principals and guidance counselors, educating them on Option 8 and urging them to select it for their school.
4. After securing local victories, move on to statewide efforts. Some states have found legislators willing to sponsor an ASVAB Option 8 bill, similar to those passed in Hawaii and Maryland.
—Patrick Elder and Seth Kershner
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