Multi-State Agreement on Military K-12 Education Now in Effect

Multi-State Agreement on Military K-12 Education Now in Effect

by Colonel Dan

Delaware Gov. Ruth Ann Minner (D) last week signed into law legislation that will help ease educational transitions for military children forced to move from state to state with their servicemember parents. Her signature made Delaware the tenth state to sign onto a multi-state agreement called the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. Her signature triggers the launch of the agreement, because a requisite 10 states had to sign onto the compact for it to take effect. Minner officially signed the bill July 9; a ceremonial signing is slated for July 17, according to her office.

Participating states agree to work collectively with other compact states to create uniform standards of practice regarding the transfer of records, course placement, graduation requirements, redundant or missed testing, entrance-age variations and other transition issues.  The compact was developed by the Council of State Governments, education and military family experts and DoD. In addition to Delaware, the compact members so far include: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, and Oklahoma. A dozen other states are considering legislation to participate in the compact. To see more, go to:  www.csg.org/programs/ncic/EducatingMilitaryChildrenCompact.aspx.

Downloadable info at the web site above

Background

Military families move between postings on a regular basis. While reassignments can often be a boon for career personnel, they often wreak havoc on the children of military families. Issues these children face include: losing and making new friends, adjusting to new cities and bases, and changing schools. While the armed services have taken great leaps to ease the transition of personnel, their spouses and most importantly children, much remains to be done at the state and local levels to ensure that the children of military families are afforded the same opportunities for educational success as other children and are not penalized or delayed in achieving their educational goals by inflexible administrative and bureaucratic practices.

The average military student faces transition challenges more than twice during high school, and most military children will have six to nine different school systems in their lives from kindergarten to 12th grade. With more than half of all military personnel supporting families, the impacts of reassignment and long deployments are key considerations when making long-term life choices.

Specific impacts on military children include:

• Transfer of Records
• Course Sequencing
• Graduation Requirements
• Exclusion from Extra-Curricular Activities
• Redundant or Missed Entrance/Exit Testing
• Kindergarten and First Grade Entrance Age Variations
• Power of Custodial Parents While Parents are Deployed
• The new Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children addresses these issues, as well as compact enforcement, administration, finances, communications, data sharing and training.
  

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1. ALL states need to join in…..&…Introduce this type legislation 
2. Pass this on to your state legislator’s
3. This web site has map of status by state: www.csg.org/programs/ncic/EducatingMilitaryChildrenCompact.aspx.