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Nationwide Education Compact Benefits Military Children

Nationwide Education Compact Benefits Military Children
A new law removes obstacles that hindered the educational career of children in military families. State Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña sponsored a bill in California to make it easier for military kids to transfer from one school to another.

Rear Admiral William French, the commander of Navy Region Southwest, and Marine Corp General Anthony L. Jackson held a press conference today to highlight new legislation. AB 343 removes obstacles that affected children in military families.

More than 60,000 students in California schools are children of military families. Their parents often move frequently from one military base to another. But moving from school to school, sometimes in different states, can set back their education and make it harder to qualify for college.

State Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña sponsored a bill in California as part of a nationwide initiative to make it easier for military kids to transfer from a school in one state to a school in another.

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"We want to make sure families that are already living under very stressful conditions do not have additional stress as a result of disruptions to their children's educational opportunities," she said.

Saldaña says 25 states have signed on to the education compact, which was put together by the Department of Defense and the Council of State Governments.

Member states will recognize course requirements from schools in other states to help students meet local graduation requirements. Students will not get penalized for transferring in the middle of a school year. Also, if they are absent because of a family move, it will not be recorded as truancy.