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Date: Tue, Jan 6, 1998 10:09 AM PST

From: Pattrsn5
Subj: a military question

Hello everyone,
Does anyone have any experience dealing with the Department of Defense's scool districts overseas? I have recently been contacted by someone in Germany wishing to remove his children from the DODD school. His commander has stated a variety of stipulations in his policy letter such as: his curriculum choice must be approved by a certified education association, a syllabus of courses to be taught throughout the year during the hours of 0730-2000 on weekdays have been dictated to him.
He had one support group tell him that his right to teach his children fell under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which would make all of this illegal. I'm not sure about this since many states out there have a variety of "requirements."
I'm a little out of my league here, but I thought I'd pose the question to this group and see if anyone has any info.

Thanks, Sue in AK
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Subj: Re: AHA SG Fwd: a military question
Date: Tue, Jan 6, 1998 11:37 AM PST
From: doris@mainstream.net (Doris Hohensee)

A certified curriculum and instruction from dawn (7:30am) til dusk (8:00pm)?
I think not. Perhaps from 0730-0200 was what he was told (7:30am-2:00pm).
We had military families in NH who objected to our NH home ed law (reasonably enough) and had the Judge Advocate General send inquiries to the NH Attorney General's office and Dept of Ed over the vague and ambiguous language in the law. Since clarification was impossible, a follow up letter was sent warning the State against trying to impose their law on any of his military families.
The assumption would be that military families fall under the jurisdiction of the state/country they currently reside in. While RESIDING on a military base however, it's my understanding that many of one's constitutional rights are considered null and void due to the necessity of military order.
The feds have no jurisdiction wrt education, but they do control their military bases. Don't know what conststitutional rights remain intact, if any, on military bases. Would be interested in knowing, should you find out though.

Doris
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Subj: Re: AHA SG Fwd: a military question
Date: Tue, Jan 6, 1998 2:52 PM PST
From: becky@goodnet.com (Becky Olson)
We homeschooled as military people for years, although never overseas. German schools are very different from American. Once a child is enrolled, s/he basically belongs to the state.
Your friend needs to contact the legal office on base and get a ruling on this. Also to try and find someone else overseas that has successfully homeschooled. I know it's been done. The biggest thing for the service member to remember is that his/her superiors will tell him/her what they think is the law, or regulation or what they want them to do and see if they can get away with it. Bucking the system is difficult in the military and it's best that the non-active duty parent do most of it.
This is not a task for the weak of heart. :)

Becky Olson
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Subj: Re: AHA SG Fwd: a military question
Date: Wed, Jan 7, 1998 5:27 PM PST
From: mav1@earthlink.net (mav1)
Concerning homeschooling within the military and DoDD schools; there are ongoing conversations at

on both the learning/homeschool and the parenting/military bulletin boards. This might be a good place to ask your questions.

-Loren
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Subj: Re: AHA SG Fwd: a military question
Date: Wed, Jan 7, 1998 1:56 PM PST
From:  csmith@n-link.com (Charlene Smith)
A person does NOT necessarily have to live on a military base to be exempt from local law. While in Germany, my homeschooling friend lived "on the economy" and did not come under German law concerning education.

My 20 year veteran objected strongly to the idea that constitutional rights are "null and void" on a military installation. Military law conforms to the constitution. There *are* hard requirements being in the military BUT those who have chosen to be in the military have done just that ... chosen to be there... and should have recognized the limiting factors before signing on.

The oath of enlistment says, "We swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States and obey the officers appointed over us." Military members are NOT required to obey an "illegal" order (i.e. something against the Constitution etc.)

We have constitutional rights to homeschool and that is where we have the greatest fight... in keeping the federal and state governments from declaring they have a "compelling interest" in our children and stealing them from us.

Charlene
* * * Military Transcripts Discussion * * *

From the Oregon Homeschooling Discussion List (ORSIG@LISTSERV.AOL.COM)
[note: posts are edited for content and clarity]

Date: Sat, Jan 10, 1998
My son Zachary wants to join the Navy. The problem is they want him to have a diploma of some kind. We have been told that I could make one on the computer, but that I would need to find someone "official" that, based on his transcripts, would be willing to vouch for his education.

I have never even *seen* a set of transcripts and am very nervous about doing this. I haven't a clue how to put it all together. Any ideas or advice you might have would be wonderful. Thank you in advance.

Blessings, Jae
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Date: Sat, Jan 10, 1998 11:42 AM PST
From: ann@OUTOFTHEBOXPUBLISHING.COM (Ann Lahrson Fisher)
A couple of resources might be very helpful. First of all Cafi Cohen's book, "And What About College?" Her homeschooled son entered the Air Force Academy and she gives a lot of information about the application process they went through. Cafi also writes a very useful column in Home Education Magazine about older homeschoolers. Her email address is  cafi@worldnet.att.net
As far as developing a transcript, I tried to make my daughter's as official looking as possible, for example, using high quality paper. I even had it notarized and the notary stamped her stamp across the sealed envelope. That wasn't required, but I wanted to have it look pretty official, and I had noticed that other transcripts I had seen lately have been sealed in some way.
Don't sell yourself short by seeking out an expert to do this for you. You ARE the principal, and superintendent and guidance counselor, of your homeschool. Get help if you need it, but you are the one who knows what he has done, right? Maybe it is more of a secretarial problem than anything else. When your child is ready to go off to college or work or the military, he does graduate from your homeschool, whether you have a ceremony and give him an official diploma or not. He has completed the course work.
Another resource that might help is Alison McKee's book, From Homeschool to College and Work -- it is primarily about how develop an impressive portfolio.

Hope this helps, Ann

Ann Lahrson Fisher
ann@outoftheboxpublishing.com
http://www.outoftheboxpublishing.com/
I have never let my schooling interfere with my education. --Mark Twain


Date: Sat, Jan 10, 1998 4:02 PM PST
From: RETROMOM@AOL.COM (RETROMOM)
Supporting Adam in this decision was probably the most difficult parenting decision I've made in my life. I did everything I could to dissuade him and made sure he was aware of every other option I could think of to do what he wants to do. However, he did an incredible amount of investigation of his own and went in with his eyes wide open. At some point you just have to let them go and figure they have a reasonable head on their shoulders. He does and I trust him. Bottom line is that they held out about $120,000 in scholarship money and this is something he had been considering for several years anyways so he took it. The money helped to tip the scales, I think. We'll see.
It's odd that, while the armed forces seem to be developing reputations as difficult, the Air Force was the easiest of the entities we dealt with as far as college stuff went. When they said he needed grades (we didn't have any) I said "We don't have any." They said to assign them. Foolishly I asked who was to do that and they said "You. You're his teacher, right?" I didn't want to argue THAT one with them and said "RIGHT!" They accepted a home-crafted transcript, my grading, and never questioned any of it. I was pretty amazed. I fumbled my way through it and would be happy to share what we did, but Ann is right on one count -- you can do this!
It may take a little help, depending on how they define "official", but it can be done with a computer and a little research.
Christine, retromom@aol.com
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Date: Sun, Jan 18, 1998 6:35 PM PST
From: RETROMOM@AOL.COM (RETROMOM)
Our experience with the Air Force ROTC scholarship process and granting is this:
The student takes the SAT1. He or she (lots of women get these scholarships, btw) applies for the Air Force ROTC scholarship in his/her Senior year. There are several sessions where the applications are considered, beginning in the fall of what would be the student's Senior year.

There are several types of scholarship available. A very few are:

Type 1, 4 yr. scholarships which provide tuition, books and a monthly stipend (not room & board) and can be used at any college the student is accepted at which has the major for which the scholarship was given (they are granted for specific majors) and also has an Air Force ROTC program.

Type 2 scholarships (also can be used at any university with the same restrictions) are granted with a $9,000 cap on tuition expenditures. (Type 2's can be upgraded to a Type 8 after the first year, based on grades, which pays 80% of tuition for the remaining 3 years. Students can also apply for Air Force ROTC scholarships while enrolled in college.) Students are notified about their scholarships after the Board meets.
There are many colleges which will pay for the room and board portion of expenses for any student who brings a Type 1 ROTC scholarship to their college. I'm not sure if there are any which do that for Type 2 or Type 8 scholarships.
What we found most helpful in getting These scholarships was a good SAT score, excellent history of leadership, good physical conditioning background, a desire to major in an area the Air Force needs graduates from (computers, math and engineering all seem to be needed) and good letters of recommendation. If you have a child who is interested in going this route keep good records of his or her activities throughout their teen years. It will make the process sooooo much easier.

Christine, retromom@aol.com

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