Home Schooling for Overseas Families

April 3, 2006

A number of military and Department of Defense (DoD) civilians are opting to home school their children, according to the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) and HEART, a military home school support group.

Military personnel, in particular, often transfer around the U.S. and internationally, and constantly changing schools creates stress and insecurity, HSLDA said. In addition, the frequent moves can have a negative impact on a child’s academic progress.

Home schooling, the report said, provides a stable environment in the midst of frequent change, improving academic continuity and family bonding.

Though military officials, particularly those overseas, have challenged the use of home schooling, HSLDA emphasized that it is legal and not subject to DoD regulation. The association has often worked on behalf of families being discouraged or even intimidated from using home schooling.

In 1989 an Army base commander in Germany issued a memorandum criticizing the use of home schooling. The DoD later ruled that it did not have the legal authority to compel attendance.

In a memorandum, DoD acknowledged, “The DoD has a specific statutory authority to operate a school for DoD dependents who are assigned overseas,” but added, “Our statute, unlike the many State statutes which do not apply overseas, does not compel the attendance of any DoD dependent in DoD Dependents Schools.”

Because the DoD does not incur costs for alternative educational methods, overseas DoD dependents could pursue foreign language or private school, as well as home schooling, opportunities.

For military families in the U.S. , state laws—including those requiring compulsory attendance—are the determining factor.

HSLDA also works to ensure that parents looking to supplement their child’s home school education can obtain services from DoD schools.

In 1999 the association negotiated with the DoD Education Activity (DoDEA). HSLDA successfully barred language from the 2000 National Defense Authorization Act that would have refused “auxiliary services.” As a result, home schooled DoD dependents can have access to “academic classes, access to the library, after-hours use of the facilities, and participation in extracurricular and inter-scholastic activities, such as music and sports programs.”

For more information on home schooling, particularly as it pertains to military and DoD-dependent families, visit www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000000/00000032.asp.