Among the more remarkable educational experiments enabled by the rise of school choice is that of the public military academy. Chicago has led the way in establishing such schools, and Philadelphia is now following: The Philadelphia Military Academy opened last September, and two more such schools will open in the next two years; there are already over 2000 applicants for the 125 spots that these academies will be opening to students in the fall. The New York Times has a really thought-provoking piece on the subject, noting that public military schools are becoming increasingly popular in poor urban neighborhoods populated by blacks and Hispanics:

Chicago now has three public Army-oriented high schools with more than 1,600 students, and officials plan to open a public naval academy in September. The city also has eight military academies within regular high schools.

"I'm the biggest fan of small schools everywhere, and the military academy option is very attractive," said Arne Duncan, chief executive officer of the Chicago public schools. "It helps to define a culture, and many students thrive in that culture."

In recent years public and charter military academies have also opened in California, Minnesota, Maryland and Florida, and officials say there is interest elsewhere.

"We get phone calls all the time from schools - I've had visits from Alabama, Texas, Atlanta," said Col. Rick Mills, director of the Department of Military Schools and the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps for Chicago public schools. "I've even received a call from London."

Current interest in public military schools is a marked contrast to the public's cool attitude toward private military academies, many of them boarding schools, after the Vietnam War. There were more than 270 private military secondary schools and colleges 40 years ago, but there are fewer than 40 today. The decline in the number of private academies has stabilized in recent years, but the growth is occurring in the public sector.

Those gains are fueled by the urgent desire of many parents and students for an orderly, safe academic environment, and by some funds from the Department of Defense.

"Most people take a look at today's political situation - Iraq and all - and don't want to come," said Louis Adams, 14, a student at the Philadelphia Military Academy who was hesitant when he first heard about the school. "They don't know this isn't a boot camp but a controlled environment, where you don't worry about the kid next to you pulling a knife on you."

But if supporters look at public military schools in Philadelphia and elsewhere and see islands of stability in chaotic urban seas, critics view them - and the Pentagon's material support for them - as little more than a means to market the military to poor and working-class minority children.

Former California governor and current mayor of Oakland Jerry Brown instituted, against the will of the school district and teachers union and I think the city council, the Oakland Military Institute. Who'd'a thunk?

Given that that there's noting intrinsically "military" about these schools (in the sense of weapons training or such) and that there is ample precedent for non-military but regimented education, it seems to me that these schools would benefit from a new description.

"Military Academy" creates unnecessary opposition and serves no purpose. Keep the discipline, the uniforms and the physical activity and make it clear that those are valuable qualities in civilian life, as well.

Given the discipline vacuum in some failing urban school districts, and the opposition to vouchers, this option a least offers some hope to the few that get in.

Jerry Brown is one of the most interesting politicians ever. His "Governor Moonbeam" reputation was hardly deserved. His tenure as the mayor of Oakland -- a difficult city to govern -- have been fascinating.

Here's the NPR story on theh Oakland Military Academy.

http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2002/june/omi/

The San Francisco Chronicle article on OMI

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fnews%2Farchive%2F2002%2F08%2F28%2Ffinancial0936EDT0045.DTL

George Will on Jerry & OMI

"But the state supported the idea for this novel charter school -- Gov. Gray Davis attended a military school -- and the first class, about 160 seventh-graders, boys and girls, just finished its first year at what Brown calls "a pre-Vatican II Jesuit school in the form of a military academy. I am applying the truth I was brought up on." The truth of the Jesuits' founder, Ignatius Loyola, whose principles, says Brown, have "worked for 400 years."

Meaning: The school day runs from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. No social promotions. Everyone is in uniform. High expectations -- everyone is aiming for college. AP -- advanced placement -- courses will begin in the ninth grade. It is, says Brown, a "cram school" that "unabashedly" teaches to the pertinent tests. Part of the application process is a 10-day encampment at the National Guard facility in San Luis Obispo, from which, Brown says, "a bus will leave every day with those who can't make it." During the school year there is a National Guard sergeant as well as a teacher in every class."

Here's the URL for the Institute:

http://www.omiacademy.org/

Would I want my child to go to OMI, if I lived in Oakland? Me, a card-carrying progressive? You bet--if I couldn't get my kid into one of the learning-oriented private schools on a scholarship. I'd want my kid safe, I'd want my kid in a school with tightly-focused objectives, I'd want my kid in an environment where aspirations included college at the top of the list.