Posts Tagged Education
Department Helps Troops With Higher-education Problems
Posted by ldaniel in Family Matters on October 19, 2012
By Lisa Daniel
Oct. 19, 2012
The Defense Department is again working with the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to help service members with their higher-education expenses.
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Holly Petraeus, the bureau’s assistant director for service members’ concerns, yesterday announced they are starting a training program for judge advocate general personnel, personal financial managers and education service officers. The training is to spread information about the benefits and consumer protections service members are afforded under the Service Members Civil Relief Act, including interest rate reductions, loan deferral programs, principal reduction options on certain loans for service in hostile areas, and loan forgiveness on certain federal loans for public service.
“We also plan to push out the message through a variety of media to all service members,” Petraeus said. “We want them to know that even if they did not know about or ask for student loan repayment benefits when they entered the military, it’s not too late to do it now.”
The announcement came as the bureau released a report outlining the unique obstacles service members report in trying to pay off student loan debt. The hurdles they describe range from not being able to get the information they need to hitting roadblocks when pursuing benefits. Read more here.
With many entering service with tens of thousands of dollars of debt – and financial problems being the No. 1 reason troops lose their security clearances – the intervention could go a long way in helping ease the burden of college debt.
In an effort to educate military consumers and the advisors seeking to assist them, the bureau has developed a guide for servicemembers with student loans. Service members also can use the CFPB’s Student Debt Repayment Assistant online tool.
The new outreach on student loans is the latest to make higher education more affordable and easier to attain for service members and their families. Last spring, President Barack Obama signed an executive order cracking down on colleges and universities that prey on service members, their families and veterans.
As military benefits go, the Post-9/11 GI Bill is one of the best, which is why some 325,000 service members and 550,000 veterans have pursued college degrees under it. With the help of the protection board, the Defense Department created a memorandum of understanding that colleges and universities must abide by, including providing clear information about their programs, before GI Bill money can be used there. The change goes into effect Jan. 1. Read more here.
Military Kids’ Education Gets Top Billing
By Lisa Daniel
April 30, 2012
Education was front and center in Washington last week and at least two major events directly impact the education of military families’ school-age children.
First, Angela Wilson a 7th grade language arts teacher at a Defense Department school in Vicenza, Italy, spent the week in the nation’s capital representing DoD schools as one of four finalists in the annual National Teacher of the Year competition.
Wilson, accompanied by her husband, Chase, who also is a 7th grade teacher at Vicenza Middle School, shined a light on Department of Defense Education Activity schools for both their quality and also on the unique challenges of their students and teachers.
The week’s packed agenda included a ceremony with President Barack Obama at the White House, a reception at the vice president’s home at the U.S. Naval Observatory with Dr. Jill Biden – a teacher so dedicated she continues to teach three days each week while serving as “second lady” – as well as opportunities to discuss education policy with Education Secretary Arne Duncan. The teachers also participated in classes and training of their choice at the Smithsonian, and events with education-focused companies and nonprofits to advance classroom teaching. That, not to mention the discussion these best and brightest had amongst themselves and will no doubt share with their colleagues, should comfort DODEA families.
The knowledge and skills the Wilsons will bring back to the classroom is vast. But even more important, Angela Wilson told American Forces Press Service, will be her message to students that American leaders – all the way to the president – care about them and their education.
“They do value education, you can tell,” she said.
The news got even better when Duncan sent an April 24 letter to all public school superintendents – where 80 percent, or 1.2 million, of students from military families are enrolled — encouraging them to understand and respond to the needs of military students, many of whom change school districts more than a half dozen times in their parents’ military careers. Read the rest of this entry »
Blog Brings Science to Life for Students
Posted by carol.bowers in Family Matters on January 11, 2011
By Elaine Wilson
Elaine.wilson@dma.mil
Jan. 11, 2011
Air Force Lt. Col. Ed “Hertz” Vaughan has been writing blogs during a 50-day tour of duty with Operation Deep Freeze.
An Air Force officer’s Antarctica-based blog is bringing science to life for students from the Department of Defense Education Activity and a Maryland elementary school.
The blog’s author, Lt. Col. Ed “Hertz” Vaughan, was stationed in Antarctica for 50 days in support of Operation Deep Freeze, the military’s support of National Science Foundation Research. He wrote about his day-to-day experiences of living and working there in the blog “Dispatches from Antarctica,” which is featured on the Armed With Science website.
John Ohab, who coordinated this series for the Defense Department, shared Vaughan’s posts with students and science teachers worldwide and asked them to submit questions to Vaughan.
Ohab then passed on their questions to Vaughan, whose responses will be featured in three posts on Armed with Science this month. Questions submitted by Arnold Elementary School in Arnold, Md., already are posted and questions from DoDEA students will be featured today and Jan. 14. Read the rest of this entry »
Military Children Get Improved Schools
Posted by carol.bowers in Family Matters on August 17, 2010
Heather Forsgren Weaver, a colleague of mine at American Forces Press Service, is a regular contributor to Family Matters. Heather’s been heavily involved in this blog from the start. She edits, helps write and posts content on a daily basis.
In this blog, Heather writes about the Department of Defense Education Activity’s plans to renovate or replace 134 schools.
DoD Education Activity Renovates, Goes Green
by Heather Forsgren Weaver
Aug. 17, 2010
Summertime, with students and teachers gone, is often the time that schools go through major makeovers. The local public high school in my neighborhood in Virginia and the middle school near my vacation home at the New Jersey shore have been completely transformed.
For schools run by the Department of Defense Education Activity, though, makeovers and modernization efforts will begin this October. The work is needed because the buildings are getting older, and many no longer meet Defense Department standards, Russ Roberts, the activity’s chief logistician, told U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Michael J. Carden.
Carden wrote about the activity’s plans to spend $3.7 billion over the next five years to renovate schools worldwide in an article for American Forces Press Service, “Modernization Ahead for Defense Department Schools.”
Of the activity’s 191 schools, 134 do not meet the department’s standards. But because the standards to which the schools are held were established in 2005, it has been difficult for the officials to barter for needed funds, Roberts added. The program will start with those 134 schools.
“We’re ecstatic to have the resources we need to improve the conditions of our school facilities,” Russ Roberts, chief logistician for the activity, said. “Most of our schools were built in the 1970s or before, and cannot hold the technologies. It’s important for us that we can continue to deliver the quality education our military children deserve.” Read the rest of this entry »
Blogger Shares Radio Show Guest Experience
Posted by in Family Matters on July 13, 2010
By Elaine Wilson, AFPS
July 13, 2010
Elaine.wilson@dma.mil
It was minutes before my radio debut on Military Mom Talk Radio, and I was a nervous wreck. I clung to my comprehensive notes – aimed at highlighting the past 10 months of Family Matters – with slightly shaky hands while I tapped my foot compulsively under my desk.
As you’ve probably gathered, radio appearances aren’t my strong suit. But I was pushing past my performance anxiety with the aim of spreading the word about Family Matters, a blog that I hope has been a useful resource to our military families over the past year.
Concerned about filling an hour guest slot, I had asked Vivian, a regular guest blogger for Family Matters, to join me on the show. I knew she’d have some great input and also help attract more guest bloggers, an ongoing goal of mine.
Read the rest of this entry »
Program Pause Won’t Affect Approved Enrollees
Posted by carol.bowers in Family Matters on February 25, 2010
By Elaine Wilson
Feb. 25, 2010
elaine.wilson@dma.mil
I have received a deluge of comments regarding the temporary halt of the Military Spouse Career Advancement Account, commonly known as MyCAA, program. It’s evident that the program was of great help to many military spouses.
I know officials are working as quickly as possible to conduct this review, and I will strive to pass on additional information just as soon as I receive it.
In the meantime, I wanted to share a new American Forces Press Service article by my colleague Carmen Gleason, “Approved Spouses Unaffected by Career Program Pause,” that explains the halt in more detail and offers some reassurance for participants.
In the article, the head of the program assures participants with approved financial assistance that their enrollment will be unaffected. Read the rest of this entry »
Spouses Open Up on Child Care, Education
Posted by carol.bowers in Family Matters on November 9, 2009
By Elaine Wilson, AFPS
Nov. 9, 2009
Elaine.wilson@dma.mil
Since starting the “Family Matters” blog, I’ve written about the challenges military families face – the relocations, deployments, reintegration and school adjustments – in an effort to help ease military families’ burdens in some small way.
Military spouses Samantha Moore, Rondah Owings and Leanne Miller participate in a family member panel during the National Leadership Summit on Military Families at the University of Maryland, Nov. 9, 2009. DoD photo by Elaine Wilson
But after this morning, I feel like I’ve barely hit the tip of the iceberg. Earlier today, I heard firsthand from nine military spouses about the ups and downs, trials and tribulations, fears and frustrations military families face in their everyday lives. I was impressed and amazed by their courage and candor as they came forward to help initiate change.
The spouses were invited to offer their perspective on military life during a family member panel at the Defense Department’s first National Leadership Summit on Military Families today at the University of Maryland.
The summit drew more than 300 military and civilian leaders who provide support to military families. The participants gathered to discuss the effectiveness of the military’s family support and readiness programs as part of an ongoing effort to improve them.
The spouses represented each military service, active and reserve components, and ran the gamut from military life “newbie” to seasoned military wife. They were invited to share their experiences in the presence of leaders who have the power to help implement future change.
Military Kids Can Gain Free Money for College
Posted by in Family Matters on November 4, 2009
By Elaine Wilson, AFPS
Nov. 4, 2009
Elaine.wilson@dma.mil
I owe my college degree to the military.
I had more than 100 credits under my belt when I dropped out of college in my junior year. I was in love, got married and started working full-time. I attempted to take a class here and there, but it was a struggle with bills to pay and a house to run.
When I joined the Air Force at 28, I again became passionate about finishing my degree and took full advantage of the military’s programs. More than a decade after I started, my college diploma arrived in the mail and I couldn’t have been prouder. I still feel proud, and grateful.
Read the rest of this entry »
Military to Open Virtual High School
Posted by in Family Matters on November 3, 2009
Students take distance learning courses while a teacher checks in at a Department of Defense Education Activity school. DoDEA will open the “doors” of its new virtual high school in the next school year. DoDEA photo
By Elaine Wilson, AFPS
Oct. 30, 2009
Elaine.wilson@dma.mil
I’m admittedly a bit behind the technology power curve. I grew up in the pre-Internet, typewriter-using, Atari Pong days when we were lucky if we had seven TV channels to watch.
Embarrassingly enough, my kids had to mentor me through the fine art of video gaming and I’m still in awe at how they learned to navigate the Internet before they could even read.
So, as a member of the comparatively Flintstone-like technology age, I’m always impressed when I hear of schools instilling high-tech lessons at an early age.
Read the rest of this entry »
Bound for Joint Family Conference in Chicago
Posted by Administrator in Family Matters on August 31, 2009
By Elaine Wilson, AFPS
Aug. 31, 2009
I’ll be traveling to Chicago later today to blog about the Defense Department’s first joint family readiness conference in nearly a decade.
About 1,500 helping professionals from every military service as well as active-duty and reserve components are expected to attend. Attendees work in a variety of areas including family support, children and youth, psychological health, health care, education and the chaplaincy.
Read the rest of this entry »