Streamlining School

Military families move between postings on a regular basis.  The average military student faces transition challenges more than twice during high school alone, and most military children will attend six to nine different school systems in their lives from kindergarten to 12th grade. The Military Interstate Children's Compact Commission (MIC3) seeks to make transition easier for the children of military families so that they have the same opportunities for educational success as other children and are not penalized or delayed in achieving their educational goals. Thirty-five states are now part of this compact. Though the website is a little vague about exactly what the compact consists of, presumably this is because the more flexible something is, the harder it is to describe.  

Essentially, the compact assists with enrollment (educational records, immunizations, and kindergarten/first grade entrance age), class placement and attendance issues, and eligibility for extracurricular activities.  The compact is especially helpful for students close to high school graduation, assisting in waiving courses required for graduation if similar course work has been completed elsewhere, promoting flexibility as to how students fulfill graduation testing requirements, and allowing a student to receive a diploma from the sending school instead of the receiving school.

The Compact was developed by The Council of State Governments' National Center for Interstate Compacts, the Department of Defense, national associations, federal and state officials, the Department of Education of each state, school administrators and military families.

The Department of Defense will continue to work with the Commission, Council of State Governments, national organizations, and state leaders to bring the remaining fifteen states on board. 

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