Lincoln’s JROTC program
may head north

By Diane Villano-Prokop
Times Staff Writer

Taps is sounding for Abraham Lincoln High School’s 30-year-old JROTC program, as the School District of Philadelphia attempts to balance its proposed $2.18 billion budget for the coming year.
The Air Force Junior ROTC program operates as a regular academic class at Lincoln, with the exception of ninth-graders, who take it as a physical science elective, according to Lt. Col. Douglas Lloyd, the JROTC instructor at Lincoln.
For the first time, the proposed budget calls for non-military schools wishing to retain their JROTC programs to pick up the school district’s $1.9 million share. The cost per school is about $58,800 for each instructor. In prior years, the school district and the federal government have shared the operating costs of the program.
The JROTC cuts are part of $99 million to be slashed from the school district’s proposed budget, which will require an additional $82.5 million in revenue to balance it.
According to the school district’s JROTC director, Lt. Col. Russell Gallagher, the Lincoln program is most likely moving to George Washington High School, where a program previously received approval from the Air Force.
"We are moving forward in that direction," Gallagher said.
The school principal has the authority to accept the transfer of students in the Lincoln program, should they want to follow the program, said school district spokeswoman Barbara Farley.
Lincoln principal Don Donley is still hoping that someone — "anyone out there" — will come through with $117,600 to save the program at his school, whether it’s Lincoln boosters or members of City Council.
"I’d hate to see the program go somewhere else. They’re part of the tradition, and I like what they do in building character," Donley said. "It just comes down to having your funding cut back and a bill put in your lap. It’s disheartening."
The leaner, meaner budget also will force the principal to cut back on teachers, secretarial staff and a guidance counselor.
Lloyd, the instructor at Lincoln, shares the disappointment of the program’s likely demise.
"The timing of this, in the eleventh hour of the school year, is troubling to parents — almost water under the bridge," Lloyd said.
Lincoln is not the only school faced with losing its JROTC. Programs operate in 16 city schools and, at the start of the school year, had an enrollment of about 2,500 students, according to Gallagher. Programs at Overbrook, University City and Germantown high schools also are in jeopardy.
Gallagher, who had approached affected principals, including Donley, when he saw that the budget crisis was looming, said the administrators understood the value of the program but also had to provide mandated services.
The JROTC director said he is scrambling to see if the instructors’ salaries can be paid with federal Title 1 funds. That money provides financial assistance to schools with high numbers of poor children to help them meet academic standards.
"The instructors are quite cheap. All military retirees, you get a person with no less than twenty years dealing with young people," Gallagher explained, "and they have learned how to motivate them and don’t often have classroom management issues."
Lincoln’s program is the second-oldest in the state.
"I’ll bring a tractor-trailer full of awards," Donley said, referring to any attempts to save it.
Those awards don’t necessarily require a hitch in the military. Farley, the school district spokeswoman, said the belief that JROTC training puts participants on the road to recruitment is a common misconception.
"Our schools are not seen as vehicles for recruiting, but rather as educational opportunities, with very much leadership-building (as a) component," Farley said.
Lloyd agreed with those sentiments.
"We are not trying to talk kids into the military. We teach them values and skills no matter what career path they choose," he said.
Another misconception is that the program is used to discipline at-risk students.
"We have a good cross-section of the student body. It’s not an elitist program, and not a program for troubled kids," Lloyd said.
More than 100 cadets are in Lincoln’s JROTC program, and they learn about aviation and aerospace science, including the science of flight, meteorology and how engines work. The program is segmented — a year that includes learning the history of flight might be followed by a year that takes a look at space exploration, Lloyd explained.
The students also take concurrent classes in leadership, first aid, communication and financial management, as well as instruction one day each week in military customs, courtesy and drills, and wearing uniforms.
"We use those trappings because we found they are vehicles for teaching teamwork, the value of every individual in the organization, and it fosters an esprit de corps," Lloyd said.
The cadets also perform community service. That can include participating in the color guard, acting as escorts and greeters at school functions, marching in parades or helping with canned-food drives.
Donley, Lincoln’s principal, enjoys the patriotism that is part of the program.
"Thursdays are one of my favorite days," he said, explaining that the cadets dress in uniform. "They look sharp, putting out the American flag and the POW flag in respect to all the veterans of Mayfair. We’re a lot stronger member of the community because of them." ••
Reporter Diane Villano-Prokop can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dvillano@phillynews.com