Of course, there is still work to do. We in the Armed Forces certainly don t expect educators to do this all by themselves. As a matter of fact, that s clearly the wrong answer. As you teachers know, everyone is an expert on education, because we all went to school . I m not trying to say anyone else can do it better.
American teachers are superb.
But we do know some things about the Military Child that are a little different from the average American child. I ve highlighted the positive aspects, now let me delve into the challenges. And I say this knowing that a guiding principle of MCEC is that the Military Child is not a member of an underprivileged group. Nevertheless, these are the kids whose dads have often missed their births, whose moms have sometimes missed their first steps, and who are often lacking one parent or another at their ballet recitals, their big games, and their everyday moments and crises at school. These nomads move about 6 times in 12 years of school.