Enacts the interstate compact on educational opportunity for military children

Applicability

This compact applies to the children of active duty members of the uniformed services, including members of the National Guard and Reserve on active duty orders; members or veterans of the uniformed services who are severely injured and medically discharged or retired for a period of one (1) year after medical discharge or retirement; and members of the uniformed services who die on active duty or as a result of injuries sustained on active duty for a period of one (1) year after death (§3303).

Records

Unofficial or "hand-carried" education records can be utilized for placement pending validation by official records. The last school attended by a military child must process and furnish official education records to the next school within ten (10) days or the time determined under the rules by the Interstate Commission. Military students are allowed thirty (30) days from date of enrollment or the time determined under the rules by the Interstate Commission to provide immunization records or to obtain the initial immunization if a series of immunizations are required. Military students are allowed to continue their enrollment at the grade level they were in at their last school (including kindergarten and first grade) regardless of age (§ 3304).

Placement

When a student transfers, their next school shall honor the placement of student in educational courses (i.e., AP, IB, vocational, honors) pending validation by official records of their previous school. The next school may perform subsequent evaluations. A military student's next school shall initially honor the placement of the student in an educational program (i.e., gifted and talented, English as a second language). For a military student with disabilities, their next school shall initially provide comparable services based on his/her current Individualized Education Program in compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act or Title II Plan. The next state may perform subsequent evaluations. The Local Education Agency (LEA) will have flexibility in waiving course/program prerequisites. Additional excused absences shall be granted at the discretion of the Local Education Agency (LEA) superintendent in order to visit with his/her active duty parent or legal guardian relative to such leave or deployment of the parent or guardian (§3305).

Eligibility

A special power of attorney shall be sufficient for purposes of enrollment and all other actions relating to eligibility. LEAs are prohibited from charging tuition to a transitioning student who has been placed in the care of a non-custodial parent due to the deployment of the custodial parent who lives in a jurisdiction other than that of the custodial parent. State and LEAs shall facilitate opportunities for military students to participate in extracurricular activities regardless of application deadlines (§3306).

Graduation

LEAs shall waive specific required courses if similar course work has been satisfactorily completed by the military student. Compact states shall accept exit or end-of-course exams required for graduation from the military student's previous state, national norm-referenced achievement tests, or alternative testing in lieu of testing requirements of their next school's state. In the event the alternatives listed above for graduation cannot be accommodated by the military student's last school, the last and previous LEA shall ensure the receipt of a diploma from the previous LEA, if the student meets the graduation requirements of the previous LEA (§3307.

Commission

The member states will create the "Interstate Commission on Educational Opportunity for Military Children" with the authority to oversee the implementation of the compact. Each member state represented at a meeting of the Interstate Commission is entitled to one vote. The Commission will meet at least once each calendar year (§3308 - 3318).

Justification

Military families move between postings on a regular basis. While reassignments can often be a boon for career personnel, they usually play havoc with the children of military families: losing and making new friends; adjusting to new cities and bases and changing schools. 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.

Military families place a high value on education and define the quality of that education differently than most states or districts that look only at issues within their boundaries. For military families, it is not enough for children to be doing well in their current schools - they must also be prepared for the next location. Military families do not want special privileges for their children, only a level playing field. Above all, they do not want their children to make unnecessary sacrifices because of a parent's military service. Though our military personnel have many important reasons for joining the armed forces, it is not always easy on families. Military families endure long separations and repeated deployments, routine moves, and constant change. For children and teens navigating adolescence, this lifestyle can often be extremely difficult. That is why it is important for states to work together to alleviate the additional burdens placed on military children. This legislation, enacting the interstate compact on military children, provides the vehicle needed to promote state cooperation.

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 a key consideration when making long-term life choices.

New York State is home to three active duty Army installations - Ft. Drum, West Point, and Ft. Hamilton. Ft. Drum houses the 10th Mountain Division with 3 brigades (16,000+ Soldiers) and is the most deployed Army Division in the country. In addition to the constant state of deployment at Ft. Drum, most Soldiers and their families reside beyond the gates in communities that can be as far as 70 miles from the installation - away from the key military family supports. Furthermore, there are over 15,000 geographically dispersed National Guard and Reserve Soldiers in New York State. According to 2006 data, it is estimated that there were more than 26,000 school age dependents of these Soldiers.

The compact will greatly enhance the quality of life of our military families. Designed to enable cooperation between states, the compact allows for the uniform treatment of military children transferring between school districts and states. It recognizes that states, no matter how supportive they are of military children, can only control what happens within their individual borders. By uniting with other states in the compact, each state can ensure that "their" children have the educational opportunities they deserve, even when those children move to another state.

As of April 2009, thirty-six (36) states have taken some action to adopt the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children; fifteen (15) have signed it into law, two (2) have passed it in the legislature and delivered it to the governor for signature, seven (7) have passed it in one house, and in twelve (12) states it has been introduced for consideration. Currently, an interstate commission of education opportunity for military children is being created for the purpose of implementing the compact. New York, with the 10th largest population of school age dependents of military families, needs to be at the table. In adopting this compact, the state of New York will send a message that we, too, deem the families of our brave Soldiers important enough to ease transition issues for them.

Our military families help to defend our rights. The right to a free education should not be inhibited by rules and regulations that encumber those who should benefit most. This compact will send a message to our heroes' children that their individual education is important to us all. When New York enacts this compact it will send that message. Military families endure far more than their counterparts and we owe them for their sacrifices.

Legislative history

New bill.

Fiscal implications

New York as a member of the compact will share in the expenses of the Commission established to oversee its implementation. Currently the total budget of the Commission is estimated to be less than $700,000. If New York enacts this legislation and is the 16th state to do so, its share of the Commission budget would be less than $50,000 annually - an amount that decreases if any of the twenty-one (21) other states currently considering the compact adopt it.

Effective date

This bill will take effect immediately.