Guest Commentary: Military Shouldn't Limit Online Education Grads

A story by the Associated Press got a lot of mileage in the past few days. It is the tale of a Lexington, S.C. virtual student who was told by Air Force recruiters that he could not enlist because his virtual education was considered to be "Tier II" and the Air Force
was enlisting on graduates of "Tier I" high school programs.
The unfair ranking of virtual schools is the same throughout the U.S. military.
An editorial in the Battle Creek Enquirer succinctly explained the situation. "The armed forces have a policy of limiting the number of applicants with 'non-traditional diplomas' to 10 percent of its total recruits. That 10 percent includes young people who have been home-schooled, acquired their General Education Development (GED) certificate or received diplomas from online institutions."
This injustice may be about to change.
Members of an Armed Services and Education subcommittees have inserted language into its portion of the Pentagon fiscal year 2012 budget bill instructing the military to treat students from online high schools equally if the schools are in line with state education laws. The full committee is due to take action on the bill on May 11.
Editorial writers for the Battle Creek paper said it best. "While not all non-traditional schools may adhere to quality standards, many - especially virtual programs - cater specifically to gifted students who are not challenged by their traditional school choices and instead want to excel and take advantage of advanced online courses.
"The military needs to revise its recruiting rules so that it is better able to tap into that pool of technological talent."