Local military and elected officials met Feb. 18 to announce new California legislation that should improve unique education challenges for military children.
State Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña, Rear Adm. William D. French, and Maj. Gen. Anthony L. Jackson held a press conference on USS Dubuque (LPD 8) to discuss the bill, AB 343, which allows the state to join the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunities for Military Children.
The compact, created by the Defense Department and the Council of State Governments, helps ease the frequent transitions many military students face when moving from school to school. Children in military families have often encountered difficulties with enrollment, eligibility, placement and graduation. The compact provides consistent treatment of military students transferring between school districts and states.
“AB 343 is a product of a remarkable collaboration that took a few years to get all the partners to agree on,” said Saldaña, who sponsored the bill. “But our objective was very clear: we wanted to provide the very best educational opportunities for the children of our active-duty military families stationed here in California.”
California’s participation in the Interstate Compact is an important quality-of-life success story for military families in the state, said French, the commander of the navy’s Southwest Region.
“This bill allows our children that live with us to transition into a new school system more smoothly and I will tell you as a parent there is nothing more important than your kid’s education,” he explained. “This is one example where the military is working collaboratively with the state of California to ensure we set those things up for success.”
According to the AB 343 Web site, some of the immediate benefits that have been seen since the passing of the bill include:
• Transcripts: The new school will receive the student’s transcripts’ a lot faster.
• Placement: No matter what time during the school year the student enrolls, they will be placed appropriately in programs and classes such as after school activities and accelerated courses.
• Course Credits: All the member states will recognize courses from other schools
• Graduation: Students will have the opportunity to receive their high school diploma from their previous school if they are unable to meet the new schools requirements.
• Absence: All absences due to military relocation will be excused.
One service member, Ensign Mim Warlick, said that the passing of this bill will really benefit his family by taking away some of the pressures of being transferred.
“Just from my own experiences, my family and I have moved around a lot and there are a lot of things that we have to worry about. With this new bill, it lifts the burdens of having to worry about our children’s education [and makes] sure they are taken care of,” said Warlick.
California is home to about 60,000 school-age military children between the ages of 5 and 18 years old, and due to high rotation rates, those children often attend seven or more schools.
For more information about AB 343, visit www.helpingmilitaryfamilies.com.
