There are approximately 1.1 million school-age dependents of military parents in the United States and an increasing number of these dependents have a parent deployed overseas. While DOD operates 194 schools for military dependents in seven states, two territories, and in 12 countries, DOD estimates the majority of military dependent students attend U.S. public schools operated by local school districts. Because of their family situations, military dependent students may face a range of unique challenges, such as frequent moves throughout their school career and the emotional difficulties of having deployed parents. Figure 1 is a photo from a school we visited with about 90 percent military dependent students that showed the global locations of students’ previous and future residences. Military dependent students often find stability in the school routine during the challenges of deployment and the resulting disruptions to daily life, according to a DOD publication. Appropriations for Education’s Impact Aid program, reauthorized and incorporated into Title VIII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), were almost $1.3 billion in fiscal year 2010, and DOD provided $41 million in additional funding for DOD Impact Aid. DOD Impact Aid was established in the early 1990s to supplement the Education Impact Aid program which, as we testified at that time, was underfunded (i.e., meaning that appropriations did not fully fund authorizations). Together, the programs are intended to compensate school districts for revenue losses resulting from federal activities and to maintain educational standards for all students. Federal activities that can affect revenues or the ability to maintain standards include federal ownership of property within a district as well as the enrollment of children whose parents work or live on federal land (e.g., military bases). Education Impact Aid funds are awarded in formula grants based on various types of federally connected children in the school district and other measures. If appropriations are not sufficient to provide funding at the level for which all districts qualify, funding is reduced with more heavily impacted districts receiving higher percentages of their maximum payments than less impacted districts. Of the more than 14,000 school districts nationwide, 902 received Education Impact Aid payments for federally connected children in fiscal year 2009. Because Impact Aid payments are not aimed at specific educational goals, accountability requirements for the use of funds or for specific outcomes are minimal. DOD Impact Aid, administered by DOD’s Education Activity (DoDEA) Educational Partnership office is intended to supplement the much larger Education Impact Aid program. All districts that receive DOD Impact Aid also receive Education Impact Aid. There are no statutory requirements mandating that school districts report on the use of these funds. DOD Impact Aid has three distinct funding components for school districts with military dependent students. These funding components are: Supplemental assistance. These funds are allocated to school districts in which military dependents made up at least 20 percent of average daily attendance during the previous school year. Data from Education’s Impact Aid application are used to determine a district’s eligibility. About 120 districts receive funds from DOD Impact Aid Supplemental assistance annually. Total amounts awarded to all districts combined have ranged from $30 to $40 million in each fiscal year from 2002 through 2010, and the funding has been included by Congress in DOD’s annual appropriation for operation and maintenance for defensewide activities. Assistance for children with severe disabilities. Funds are allocated to school districts with at least two military dependent children with severe disabilities where the costs exceed certain criteria. The funding is a reimbursement for expenses paid, and is sent to the school districts after the expenses are incurred. According to a DOD official, approximately 40– 50 school districts that apply and meet the cost criteria are awarded funds each year out of the 400–500 school districts that are potentially eligible. Total amounts awarded to all districts combined have generally ranged from $4 to $5 million in each fiscal year from 2002 through 2010. Assistance for districts significantly affected by BRAC. Funds are allocated to school districts that have been heavily impacted as a direct result of large scale military rebasing. Beginning in the late 1980s, the U.S. military has attempted to streamline the nation’s defense infrastructure through a series of base realignments and closures. For example, as part of the 2005 BRAC round, DOD has relocated or plans to relocate more than 120,000 military and DOD civilian personnel by September 2011. In addition, DOD and local community officials expect thousands of dependents to relocate to communities near the BRAC 2005 growth bases. Thus, several U.S. bases could each see the addition of more than 10,000 military and DOD civilian personnel, along with their families and children. To qualify for these DOD Impact Aid BRAC funds, districts must have had at least 20 percent military dependent students in average daily attendance during the previous school year and have had an overall increase or decrease of 5 percent or more of these students, or an increase or decrease of no less than 250 military dependent students at the end of the prior school year. No school district is permitted to receive more than $1 million in assistance in a fiscal year. In fiscal years 2006 and 2007, 45 districts received BRAC funding from DOD Impact Aid totaling $15 million. Although authorized, funding was not provided in fiscal years 2002, 2008, 2009, and 2010 (see table 1). In addition to DOD Impact Aid, DOD provides other assistance to school districts and military families for school-age children through the following programs: DoDEA grants to schools. DoDEA has two programs that provide grants for military-connected schools nationwide. These grant programs began in 2008, and are authorized through fiscal year 2013. Unlike the Supplemental Impact Aid program, the DoDEA grants are targeted for specific uses and have specific evaluation requirements. The competitive grant program aims to enhance student achievement, provide professional development for educators, and integrate technology into curricula at schools experiencing growth in numbers of military dependent students. The invitational grant program aims to enhance student achievement and ease challenges that military dependent students face due to their parents’ military service. Through these two programs, DoDEA awarded approximately $56 million to 40 schools in fiscal year 2009, and approximately $38 million to 32 schools in fiscal year 2010. Military family life consultants. DOD’s Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Family Policy, Children, and Youth administers the Military Family Life Consultant program, which provides counseling services to faculty, staff, parents, and children in school districts with a high percentage of parent deployments. The program began in fiscal year 2004 as a demonstration program, and received $150 million in fiscal year 2009 and $259 million in fiscal year 2010. Working as DOD contract employees, these consultants typically assist with issues including school transitions, adjustment to deployments and reunions, and parent-child communication. In addition, consultants try to promote a culture that encourages service members and their families to seek counseling or other assistance when they have a problem. As of fall 2010, there were more than 200 consultants supporting 297 schools and 105,000 military dependent students worldwide. School liaison officers. Each service branch—the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force—administers the School Liaison Officer program, which provides military commanders with the support necessary to coordinate assistance to and advise military parents of school-age children on educational issues and assist in solving education-related problems. In fiscal year 2010, the Army spent $14.7 million on its program, the Marine Corps $2.1 million, and the Navy $3.6 million. A school liaison officer’s responsibilities include promoting military parents’ involvement in schools, assisting children and parents with overcoming obstacles to education that stem from the military lifestyle, and educating local communities and schools on the needs of military children. As of fall 2010, there were more than 250 school liaison officers assisting DOD and military-connected public schools throughout the world, and more than 150 of those were in the United States, all of whom are disbursed across the service branches. The Army reported funding 141 school liaison officers, the Marine Corps 24, the Navy 58, and the Air Force 82. Tutor.com. Since the end of 2009, DOD has provided children of active duty military with free, unlimited access to online tutoring, academic skills courses, and homework assistance in math, science, social studies, and English for kindergarten through 12th grade (K–12) students through Tutor.com. The program received $2 million in fiscal year 2009. Professional tutors assist military dependent students with completing homework, studying for standardized tests, and writing papers. Some tutors are career specialists who can assist with resume writing and job searches. The program provided 162,570 sessions during fiscal year 2010. Heroes at Home for preschool-age children. Heroes at Home, a pilot program established in fiscal year 2007, seeks to assist active duty parents of preschool-age children at military installations with significant transition or deployment activities. The program provides research-based curriculum and training for parent educators, who then work with other parents to help them mitigate any risk to children’s well-being or educational readiness posed by military life. Over a 3 year period, Heroes at Home has served more than 1,900 military families and almost 2,400 children from birth until kindergarten. The program has received $3.4 million since fiscal year 2008. Activities supported by the funding ended in September 2010, but will continue at some installations through other funding mechanisms and existing programs. In addition to Education and DOD Impact Aid and other DOD assistance for military dependent children, school districts may also qualify for other funding from Education. For example, a district may receive funding through Title I, Part A of ESEA, which authorizes financial assistance to school districts and schools with high numbers or high percentages of economically disadvantaged children.