Posts Tagged ‘Military Families’

The state of Hawaii will receive a $26.6 million grant from DOD to renovate and expand an elementary school at Wheeler Army Airfield/Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, the department announced Thursday. The federal funding comes from $500 million allocated to DOD’s Office of Economic Adjustment by Congress in the fiscal 2011 and 2012 spending bills to construct, renovate, repair or expand public schools located on military installations …

Researchers estimate there are between 275,000 and 1 million women and men who are providing care or have provided care for veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, but little is known about their needs and the nation lacks a coherent strategy for supporting them, according to a new RAND Corp. report. Military caregivers — which include spouses, children and parents of military members and veterans — differ from informal caregivers of civilians in several key ways, the report states …

Gov. Mike Beebe signed legislation this week making Arkansas the 44th state to adopt an interstate agreement intended to smooth the transition between school districts and states when military children move. The Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children addresses key educational transition issues encountered by military families, including enrollment, placement, attendance, eligibility and graduation …

DOD Education Activity’s 194 schools, which serve 84,000 students, will attempt to ensure military dependents receive an accredited school year in the face of furloughs for teachers and support personnel, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said Monday. “We’re mindful that we need to protect the education of military children,” Little told reporters …

With Chuck Hagel sworn in as the new defense secretary, the Obama administration is expected to start nominating candidates to fill up to two service secretary posts and several vacancies within the office of the secretary of defense. Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, who has served since late in the George W. Bush administration, is expected to step down this spring …

Spending by the Department of Veterans Affairs on disability benefits, veterans education and health care is exempt from across-the-board cuts that will imposed under sequestration, but plenty of other federal programs that support veterans, especially those within the Pentagon, are not. Veterans likely will find themselves most vulnerable to cutbacks in military spending for health care and related programs …

Local school districts serving substantial numbers of military children would face funding cuts immediately after sequestration is triggered Friday, confronting them with a dilemma as to how to make up a shortfall of tens of millions dollars before the school year ends in the spring, Education Secretary Arne Duncan told reporters Wednesday at a White House briefing. Cuts to school systems that rely on the Impact Aid program — including those enrolling children of service members who live on or near military installations and children who live on Indian reservations — would total $60 million in the current fiscal year …

Teachers at DOD schools anticipate a shortened school year or four-day work weeks if sequestration is triggered and the DOD Education Activity is forced to furlough teachers and other school employees. So far, the DOD Education Activity has not said how it would cope with the fiscal crisis the department is facing, reported Stars and Stripes. Last month, officials said civilian employees would need to take up to 22 days of unpaid furlough between April and the end of the fiscal year if lawmakers fail to avert the $40-plus billion in defense cuts scheduled to go into effect Friday. One response under consideration is cutting 10 to 12 days from the current school year and additional days from the school year beginning next fall, according to the story. About 84,000 children are enrolled in DOD schools.

Many states have heeded the call from First Lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of the vice president, to eliminate hurdles to military spouses and veterans finding employment, but more states need to join the effort, the two told the nation’s governors on Monday. Biden said that 28 states have passed laws making it easier for spouses in fields such as teaching, nursing and social work to transfer their professional licenses when they relocate to another state because of a new military posting …

Legislation proposed in Maryland to give veterans credit for military training and experience would help them find jobs more quickly after they leave the Armed Forces, a DOD official told a state panel in Annapolis this week. “From our perspective, this is one of the most comprehensive [bills] that we’ve seen,” said Frank DiGiovanni, DOD’s director of training readiness and strategy for the deputy assistant secretary for readiness …