The Challenges Military Children Face in Public Schools

There are more than 1 million children in the U.S. whose parents are active duty military. Most of them attend public schools. Yet many districts don’t even know who these kids are or how to support them. On average, military children move six to nine times before they finish high school. And each move can mean navigating different schools in different states with different academic requirements. There is also an emotional toll- it isn’t uncommon for a military child to have a parent gone for long periods of time because of training or deployments. This year, school districts must include a check box on enrollment forms to identify military children. By identifying who these students are, advocates hope that will help school districts better support these children.