The Core Knowledge Blog

With military “brats” changing schools an average of six to nine times from kindergarten to 12th grade, the Pentagon is proposing a multi-state compact that would help families with the transitions, according to the Washington Times. “The one thing we continuously forget to address is the sacrifices our children are forced to make,” Rear Adm. Len Hering, commander of the Navy’s Southwest region, tells the paper.

The compact would direct states to ease the transition of military families transferring into schools by requiring schools to accept temporary transcripts for class placement until official records are received. Children who don’t meet local vaccination requirements could be enrolled with a short grace period. “For high school students, membership in honor societies such as Beta Club would be honored, and state-specific exit exams required for graduation could be waived or substituted for tests taken in another state. The compact also would address a top complaint of military children: having to take the basic state history courses,” notes the Times.

Transferability has long been one of the primary arguments in favor of national standards and curriculum. The 2004 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the U.S. Census found that 15 to 20 percent of school-aged children moved in the previous year. According to a study conducted in 1994 by the U.S. General Accounting Office, one out of six children had attended three or more schools by the end of the 3rd grade.