Most communities actively seek out programs to engage their youth, keep them out of trouble, and entice them to stay in school. However, many communities run into two problems when designing these programs. One, communities face difficulty in finding funding for youth programs. Two, communities have difficulty engaging youth in the programs, so that the programs even have a chance of achieving some of the positive goals they’re intended to produce.

The JROTC program has reportedly had the effect of engaging youth, keeping them out of trouble, and enticing them to stay in school. On top of that, the program is partially funded by the federal government. In other words, high school age teenagers voluntarily sign up for for a program that requires them to wear a military uniform at least once a week, work in teams, respect authority, and march in formations. On top of that, most participants show enthusiasm for the program. What could possibly be the downside of it?

Well, according to the San Francisco Board of Education, JROTC’s connection to the military makes the program incompatible with the public education system. Tuesday night, the San Francisco Board of Education voted to remove the JROTC program from San Francisco’s public high schools.

I can’t help but see some disturbing parallels between San Francisco giving JROTC the boot and the attempts to remove evolution from science textbooks in some other parts of the country. In both instances, we have a group of people deciding to remove a program from the schools based on their own moral beliefs, rather than on the actual merits or demerits of the programs.