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Today, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (TX-16), alongside Congressman Mark Alford (MO-04), introduced the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Pay Oversight for Workforce Evaluation and Retention Act, or the JROTC POWER Act, to improve oversight of JROTC instructor recruitment and retention nationwide.

This follows a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report that found that the Department of Defense lacks consistent, comprehensive metrics to evaluate JROTC instructor recruitment and retention and does not have a formal plan to determine whether the recently implemented JROTC Standardized Instructor Pay Scale is improving hiring outcomes. As a result, many school districts across the country continue to face instructor shortages that disrupt JROTC programs and limit opportunities for students.

“JROTC has helped generations of young Americans develop leadership skills, a sense of service, and personal responsibility,” said Congresswoman Escobar. “At a time when school districts across the country are struggling to fill JROTC instructor positions, I’m thrilled to work across the aisle to address this problem. My bipartisan legislation will require the Department of Defense to strengthen the instructor pipeline and provide Congress with the accountability needed to ensure students have access to the leadership opportunities that JROTC provides.” 

“JROTC instructors play a vital role in shaping the next generation of leaders, and they deserve to be compensated fairly no matter where they serve,” said Congressman Alford. “This commonsense effort ensures the Department of Defense evaluates the data and helps make sure instructors are supported and paid appropriately across the board.”

El Paso is home to a prominent JROTC community, with programs serving students across numerous local high schools. As school districts nationwide experience disruptions to their JROTC programs, improving recruitment and retention efforts nationwide will strengthen the long-term stability of the JROTC program and support leadership development opportunities for students across the country.

Specifically, the JROTC POWER Act requires the Department of Defense to:

• Develop an evaluation plan to assess the impact of the JROTC Standardized Instructor Pay Scale on instructor recruitment and retention
• Establish standardized metrics for measuring instructor recruitment and retention outcomes across all military services
• Submit annual reports to Congress for three years evaluating recruitment, retention, and the effectiveness of the pay system.

This legislation also requires the Department of Defense to track workforce indicators, including instructor vacancy rates, time-to-hire, retention trends, geographic recruiting challenges, and applicant outcomes throughout the hiring process.