Washington lawmakers consider rules to help military kids with school moves
Friday, January 23, 2009
After deferring a decision last year, Washington state lawmakers are again taking up legislation that would make moving from school to school easier for children with parents in the military. The Interstate Compact on Education Opportunity for Military Children has been adopted in 11 states so far. Its purpose is to eliminate some of the hassles kids face when they change schools, dealing with things like graduation requirements, testing, sports and immunizations.
Last year, rather than adopting the compact, the Legislature created a task force to examine the challenges faced by military children in education. The task force recommended in its final report that the state sign on. This year lawmakers introduced a bill about the agreement in both the House (HB 1075) and the Senate (SB 5248). You can track the progress of the bills online.
Read more about the bill's chances and what lawmakers have to say about it in this story from The News Tribune in Tacoma.
If you're interested in information for parents and educators about helping kids deal with stressful moves and deployments, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction's Web site has a page of resources and links from its Operation Military Kids program.
military students compact
Marietta Nelson-Bittle (not verified) wrote:
The one disappointment with this compact is the SLOOWWWW progress it will make toward actually easing transitions for students. From what I can tell, this move by Washington legislators means that the state merely gets a place at the table to talk about possible changes with other states. I asked Rep. Christine Rolfes, who sat on the task force, and she said military families can't expect changes for kids soon. It may take years to implement the changes that the compact suggests. Rolfes suggested checking with your command education liasion or local school district to see what, if anything, happens.
Follow up
Elaine Norton wrote:
Thanks, Marietta. I'm sorry I didn't see your comment here sooner. What's the best way for people to find out who is their command education liasion or who they should contact at their school district? Maybe we could post a list of those contacts here.