LANSING – A bipartisan group of legislators today announced a plan that would enter Michigan into a nationwide compact designed to make it easier for children of military families to change schools when their parents are transferred. State Representatives Gino H. Polidori (D-Dearborn), John Espinoza (D-Croswell), Paul Opsommer (R-DeWitt) and John Pastor (R-Livonia) are spearheading the effort.
"A child in a military family may attend as many as nine or 10 schools between kindergarten and graduation," Polidori said. "These kids face serious social and academic challenges, and their parents often face significant red tape when they try to enroll their children in school. This plan will make it easier for kids to focus on their school work so they will be prepared for the good-paying jobs of the future."
The plan introduced today would enter Michigan in the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. The compact covers a wide range of common obstacles and inconsistencies faced by military families as they transfer from one state to another, including the transfer of records, kindergarten and first-entrance age, course sequencing and graduation requirements.
"Our servicemembers make incredible sacrifices as they fight to keep our nation safe, and their families make sacrifices too," said Espinoza, who retired from the U.S. Army after 20 years of service. "This plan will help ease the burden on our military families who also sacrifice every day. It will help make sure that our young students are able to get the education they need to succeed later in life."
Among the prominent provisions of the plan, the compact would:
- Allow students to enroll in school with hand-carried records until official paperwork arrives.
- Allow students to avoid repeating content or falling behind because of missed prerequisites.
- Give families a 30-day window to meet any immunization requirements.
- Prevent students from being punished for missing entrance or exit exams, or from being excluded from extracurricular activities.
- Ensure that varying graduation requirements do not prevent a student from graduating.
"Our military parents have made a commitment to protect our nation, often at great personal cost," Opsommer said. "Their children deserve the same opportunities to learn as any other child, and we owe it to our men and women in uniform to enact this legislation."
The compact is the product of a joint effort between state legislatures, the Department of Defense, the Council of State Governments and the education community. It will go into effect once 10 states have enacted legislation agreeing to join. This type of legislation has been introduced in 19 other states, 10 of which have already taken some action.
"This is not a problem that can be solved by any one state," Pastor said. "Rather, we need an agreement between all the states. After all, we want to take care of the students who move to Michigan, but we also want to be sure that students who move to Georgia or California will receive the same treatment."
The bill has been referred to the Military and Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security Committee. Polidori, chairman of the committee, indicated that he plans to hold a hearing on the bill next week.
"We are moving fast on this because want Michigan to be among the first 10 states to join the compact," Polidori said. "The first 10 states will formalize the policies, and we feel Michigan should have a seat at the table when those rules are created. We must ensure that the students of today are prepared to be our workforce of tomorrow, and making sure that every child has access to a high-quality education is essential to making that happen."