As Military Kids Head Back to School, High Standards Should be the Rallying Cry
We’ve all heard the stories. Perhaps some of us have lived them. We know that many moves, at times across the country and sometimes across the world, pose a unique set of challenges for our families, especially our military-connected students. Relocation comes with new schools, new friends, and oftentimes readjustment to a new academic standards and a new curriculum for our children.
At Military Families for High Standards, we try to be as solutions-oriented as possible and provide you with tips and tricks from our “experts” — our team members — on the ground.
As promised, I’m writing to announce the latest addition to our blog. In this piece, Patti Hunzeker, a K-12 educator, Army spouse of three decades and proud parent of four, discusses how our “uneven educational system” forces many families to have to “catch their students up to grade level in a new state or watch them struggle to sit through material they’ve already learned.”
This piece is the second to be featured in MFHS’ Back-to-School series.
Scroll down to read Patti Hunzeker’s piece and learn about how other military families navigate the distinct challenges that their children may face at the beginning of a school year.
As Military Kids Head Back to School, High Standards Should be the Rallying Cry
By Patti Hunzeker
As a teacher and member of a military family, I have a unique perspective on how military-connected children are educated. I know first-hand that our children have the special challenge of frequent moves across the country and overseas that can seriously impact their education.
Too many students must deal with public school systems that are out of sync, fighting for classes and credits every time they move. With 80 percent of military-connected students in public schools, this is too big a problem to ignore.
My experience with America’s uneven educational system is all too personal. One of my daughters missed geography altogether and took U.S. history twice when we moved from one state to another. Unfortunately, because K-12 academic standards vary from state to state, many families have to catch their students up to grade level in a new state or watch them struggle to sit through material they’ve already learned. I, for one, had to. I ended up teaching her the geography myself to fill the gap. It was a hardship she and other military-connected students like her should never have to go through on top of all the other disruptions they experience with a move.
There is a better way. The adoption of robust and consistent education standards across the nation would mean that military students forced to move would never be behind or ahead of their peers. Many states have adopted rigorous standards and, importantly, are following through to ensure civilian and military kids are receiving a solid education.
Take the Fairfax County, Virginia school system in suburban Washington, D.C. I know the system well since every time we had an assignment in the DC or Virginia area, I taught elementary school in the county. I was there in the early 1990s when Fairfax County switched to the Standards of Learning system (SOL).
The Virginia SOL program is designed to prepare students for advanced education and employment. There were growing pains the first few years as teachers were being trained and making curricular adjustments meet the rigor of the SOL. Fairfax County Schools are now rated among the best in the nation. This tells me that challenging our children with high standards works. What’s more, for military-connected kids coming from another state that aligns with similar high education standards, transitioning into Fairfax County is a breath of fresh air.
That’s one major reason why military families who transition from places like Fairfax County into another locale with less rigorous standards are apprehensive about the move.
Military-connected families are resilient. They prove that over and over again, every two to three years when they pull up stakes and move on to the next town, new friends, new surroundings, new schools. With high-quality education standards enacted everywhere, we could help ensure that national service doesn’t require them to sacrifice a decent education for their children.
An Army spouse for over three decades, Hunzeker is a career K-12 educator and a member of Military Families for High Standards. She currently serves a mentor to K-6 educators in Fairfax County, Va. She and her husband raised four military-connected kids.
This piece was originally published on October 07, 2019 on Medium. The original post is accessible here.