White House Steps Up with New Plan to Address Needs of Military Children

White House Steps Up with New Plan to Address Needs of Military Children

According to a statement released by the White House on Thursday, officials from the Department of Defense and the Department of Education have collaborated in order to develop programs that provide assistance to military children who have disabilities.

“Together, these actions will address delays in services due to issues with transferring special education records from one school district to another, often across state lines,”  according to a release from the White House.

According to the release, some military families frequently have to wait for their children with disabilities to obtain the standard services they require at their new school for up to half of the school year. This is due of a delay in the transfer of records during the transition process.

“This loss of critical services is compounded with every move — which, for military children, will be an average of six to nine times throughout their K-12 education,” according to the release.

Joining Forces is the name of the program that was started by the first lady of the United States.

The program’s objective is to make it possible for military children with disabilities to have their medical records transferred from one school to another in a more expedient manner. Take, for example, the situation in which one or both of their parents are transferred to a military base located in a different town.

White House Steps Up with New Plan to Address Needs of Military Children

“I’ve heard from parents of military kids with disabilities who have shared how hard it is to transfer their child’s individualized education program when they move to new schools,” the president stated. “These new commitments are a critical first step in helping military children with disabilities, and all students who move frequently, get the specialized services they need when they move schools — without delay.”

Management software vendors are working with state and local education organizations to enhance the student record transfer process.

The announcement states that these agencies are working to create systems that will facilitate the transfer of records across schools, making the process more effective and smooth for children.

Children from military families who frequently switch schools because of their parents’ service assignments are the program’s primary target.

Agencies have agreed to start a pilot initiative this school year as part of this endeavor. The intention is to show that it is possible to transfer student data between two schools efficiently and without any delays. The program will be expanded to include all participating school districts if the pilot experiment proves to be effective.

The overarching goal is to simplify data transfers across districts so that students, particularly those from military families, can more easily transfer to new schools without experiencing any interruptions to their education.

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The Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) is collaborating with state and local governments and a number of nonprofit groups to implement this initiative. DoDEA, which runs schools for kids with military ties, is actively helping to streamline the data transfer procedure.

Currently, DoDEA schools operate in 161 locations spanning seven states, 11 foreign countries, and two U.S. territories, serving about 64,000 military-connected students.

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By reducing the difficulties brought on by repeated moves and school transfers, this program seeks to improve these kids’ educational experiences.

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With more than two years of expertise in news and analysis, Eileen Stewart is a seasoned reporter. Eileen is a respected voice in this field, well-known for her sharp reporting and insightful analysis. Her writing covers a wide range of subjects, from politics to culture and more.