Recruiters for the American military, who have for decades set up folding tables inside public high school cafeterias and on city college campuses, would be banned from doing so under legislation introduced yesterday at the City Council.

Saying military recruiters “prey” on poor black and Hispanic students, Council Member Charles Barron, a Democrat who represents East New York in Brooklyn, proposed a bill that would bar recruiting at public schools, public colleges, and school-sponsored job fairs.

“We don’t want the military in our communities, taking advantage, preying – P-R-E-Y, not P-R-A-Y, preying – on our young people because of the vulnerable position that we’re in,” Mr. Barron told reporters at a news conference.

“We want the military out,” he said. “Put pens and pencils and put jobs in their hands, not guns to go fight an unjust war.”

While Mr. Barron attempts to secure support for his measure – he plans to present his proposal to the council’s caucus of black and Hispanic members – the political support he needs does not seem forthcoming. While the borough president of Manhattan, C. Virginia Fields, supported the measure, at least three other mayoral candidates opposed it.

Some elected officials have already criticized the bill, and officials at the U.S. Army Recruiting Command said yesterday that the measure would violate the federal No Child Left Behind Act. That law requires high schools receiving federal money to ensure that military recruiters get the same access to students that other potential employers get, and requires schools to give military recruiters students’ contact information unless a parent specifies otherwise. Mr. Barron’s bill would also prohibit the city from giving out students’ names.

Council Member Peter Vallone Jr. of Queens called his colleague’s bill “ridiculous” and said the military was a “noble calling.”

A spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg, Edward Skyler, said the mayor would not support the bill. And two of the four Democrats running for mayor, the council speaker, Gifford Miller, and Rep. Anthony Weiner, also came out against the proposal.

The front-runner in the Democratic contest, Fernando Ferrer, who is Hispanic, did not respond to calls for comment.

Ms. Fields, who was endorsed by Mr. Barron and is the only black candidate in the race, was the only mayoral candidate to support the proposal. In a statement, she said it was “shameful that the Bush administration would mandate military recruitment in our schools as part of the No Child Left Behind Act.”

Since the war in Iraq began and thousands of active members of the military and reservists have been sent to the Middle East for extended tours of duty, recruiting has become more difficult and the federal government has struggled to meet enlistment goals.

A spokesman for the Army Recruitment Command, Douglas Smith, defended the military yesterday and said recruiters do not target groups by their income levels or race. According to statistics he provided, roughly 28% of the Active Army in fiscal year 2004 was black or Hispanic and 65% was Caucasian.

Recruitment statistics for New York City were not available yesterday, but Mr. Barron said minorities in New York City were disproportionately represented.

Council Member Yvette Clarke, who joined Mr. Barron in announcing the legislation, said it was “totally inappropriate” for the city to open its schools.

Without support from Messrs. Miller and Bloomberg, the measure is all but guaranteed to stall. Those obstacles did not deter proponents yesterday.