The Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children

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The Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children

Frequent moves and deployment can create problems for children of military families who are still in school, as a result of different rules and requirements between school districts.
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Frequent moves and deployment can create problems for children of military families who are still in school, as a result of different rules and requirements between school districts.

The Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children was created to help with this problem. It 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.

The Compact does not apply to children of:

  • Inactive members of the national guard and military reserves;
  • Members of the uniformed services now retired and not covered above;

The Compact is an agreement among the States who have signed the compact to handle certain types of issues according to specific guidelines. These issues include:

  • class placement,
  • records transfer,
  • immunization requirements,
  • course placement,
  • graduation requirements,
  • exit testing, and
  • extra-curricular opportunities.

The Compact also is intended to help custodial guardians enroll children in school when their parents are deployed.

A printable brochure explaining  the Compact's provisions is available here.

The Compact has been signed by all 50 states.  A map which shows participating states and other information about the Compact is available here.   On this map, you can click on the state in which you are living to get the  name and phone number of the "military family education liaison" available to help your family. 

If you are low-income, your local LSC-funded legal aid program may also be able to provide assistance with these issues.

August 2017


Source URL: https://www.statesidelegal.org/educational-programming-children-military-families