The Maryland General Assembly has passed the bill that will protect the privacy of students who take a vocational aptitude test administered by the military in Maryland's public high schools. The legislation prevents the automatic release to military recruiters of three hours worth of test results and other private information gathered in conjunction with the test -- such as social security number, ethnicity, demographics, and career plans.

By a commanding vote in the House of Delegates and a close vote in the Senate, Maryland legislators agreed with Peace Action Montgomery and our partners in this campaign -- the Maryland ACLU, Progressive Maryland, the NAACP Maryland Conference, and the Maryland PTA -- that all Maryland schools in which the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is given must select a certain results-release option that stipulates that the results may not be forwarded to military recruiters. Until now, automatic release -- without parental consent or knowledge -- was the common practice. With this bill, only the student and his or her parents may decide to share this information with recruiters.

We will be honoring Delegate Sheila Hixson and Senator Jamie Raskin, the introducers of the bill in their respective chambers, at our annual luncheon May 8th in Rockville--see the calendar for details. Be sure to come!