K-12 Education

The DoD reported 38.8% of its service members have children, of which over half (54%) of those children are school-aged (6-18 years old). Although civilian families also relocate, the average military child moves three times as often as their civilian peers, which can exacerbate education concerns for military families. Multiple moves have been associated with some possible educational consequences such as a gap in learning, credit transfers, and graduation requirements, which might entail repeating classes.

On top of this, while military families are often able to provide some degree of input into where they’d like to relocate, they ultimately have little control over when or where they actually move, and many of these moves do not occur at national transition points (e.g., elementary to middle school/junior high). This can add an additional layer of uncertainty for military children and their families.

Blue Star Families supports legislation that would ease education-related challenges for military children.

What does the data say?

Military families are, first and foremost, American families. As such, given the general public’s current concern with quality education in the United States, it comes as no surprise that our 2019 military family respondents ranked dependent children’s education as a top-five issue of concern for the third consecutive year.

In an effort to address the educational concerns of military families after a move, the DoD created the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children (Interstate Compact) to ensure that active-duty military children have the same opportunities for educational success as other children. Yet, our 2019 survey results indicate that many respondents are still seeking ways to offset the impact of relocation on their children’s education, particularly by choosing to homeschool or voluntarily live separately from their service member (geo-baching).

In the United States, approximately 3% of school-aged children are homeschooled, but in this year’s survey, among military family respondents with school-aged children, 11% reported they are currently homeschooling, and another 13% reported they have homeschooled in the past but are not currently doing so. When military family respondents were asked why they currently homeschool, the top three reasons included: “flexibility to spend time together as a family when the service member is home” (49%), “dissatisfaction with available public school options” (48%), and the ability to “stabilize our child’s academic experience” (47%). In addition, 22% of military family respondents indicated they had chosen to geo-bach in the past five years; among those, 32% cited their children’s education was the reason they chose to do so.

Military leaders recognize that there is a connection between military children’s education concerns and military unit readiness, and the DoD has continued making efforts to address this issue. Outside of implementing the Interstate Compact, the DoD also created the School Liaison Officer (SLO) program and issued a joint letter in 2018 to the National Governors Association citing the need to consider the quality of schools near military installations when making military installation realignment determinations. The SLO program has been helpful to military families who are relocating to a new duty station with school-aged children, particularly as it pertains to public schools. However, further opportunities lie in standardizing how SLOs identify which families are homeschooling or are interested in homeschooling, and the availability of resource/level of support for homeschooled families. The DoD and policymakers can also continue to make improvements by offering protections for families who choose to homeschool as it is not currently covered under the Interstate Compact and therefore does not offer the same protections as families who opt for public school for their children.

Homeschooling and geo-baching can be associated with additional financial costs that are not covered. Twenty-three percent of military family respondents who currently homeschool responded they do not feel they were “able to afford the resources I need to support my child's homeschool experience.” As long as military families are concerned about their children’s education, homeschooling is likely a long-term trend; over a third (36%) of military family respondents who currently homeschool indicated they intend to homeschool until their children graduate, and 40% indicated that they plan to homeschool “until we think our child[ren] would do better in a school setting.” Geo-baching will also likely remain a viable consideration for military families when thinking about stabilizing their children’s education.

Military Families Choose Homeschooling to Offset the Impact of Relocation on Children’s Education

“We are now homeschooling due to only being at our current location for a year. However, our new location has less than desirable schools and isn't military-friendly. We will make a determination to continue to homeschool once we move.” - Coast Guard Spouse (2019 MFLS)

Recommendations

Make homeschooling a more accessible option for military families by expanding the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children to cover children who enter the public school system after homeschooling
Provide high-quality online educational resources to military families who choose to homeschool their children
Fully fund Department of Education Impact Aid and increase funding provided via DoD Impact Aid to ensure that public schools serving military children have adequate resources

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