DoDEA discusses education plans at Columbus Published Nov. 5, 2007 By Airman 1st Class Danielle Powell 14th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Department of Defense Education Activity spokeswoman Anne Muse, Associate Director of DoDEA Educational Partnership Directorate, visited Columbus AFB, Nov. 5-7. During her visit Ms. Muse addressed the Link's Education Task Force to share DoDEA's mission on the support of the education of military children. "We have a commitment to work for and with military families to ensure that our children have the best education," said Ms. Muse. One of the goals for the visit was to interface with the local school districts to see what aide the DoDEA can offer to the schools. The DoDEA will work with local schools to establish a professional relationship and help to solve problems and identify their needs. They will select the strategies that meet the needs of the district and try to develop a deeper relationship with that school. Ms. Muse toured the Columbus Municipal School District with Superintendent D. Del Phillips, Nov. 6 and the Lowndes County schools with County superintendent Mike Halford, Nov. 7. The DoDEA operates two school systems: the Department of Defense Dependents Schools in Europe, the Pacific and Cuba; and the Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools in the United States, Puerto Rico and Guam. With more than 85,000 students and 199 schools worldwide, they are the 37th largest school system in the U.S. Although the DoDEA has a wide variety of educational opportunities for military children, they are only responsible for nine percent of their educational responsibilities. The other 91 percent of military children attend public or private schools or are home-schooled. The DoDEA would like to see quality education for all military children, and are reaching out to U.S. schools to make this happen. "In May, Senator John Warner through the National Defense Authorization Act, expanded our authority so now the DoDEA can work with local education agencies to improve or enhance the quality of military children's education. We are trying to provide consistent opportunities no matter where they go to school," Ms. Muse said. Education has been the main priority of the 14th Flying Training Wing during Colonel Dave Gerber's command. Col. Gerber has developed a plan with the Caledonia and Columbus School districts so that CAFB children are able to pick which school district they would like to attend. While there is no DoD schools within the area, all school-aged children at Columbus AFB must either attend a public or private school or be home-schooled. The plan of the DoDEA is to be able to aide these schools to enhance the education of CAFB children. The DoDEA has offered to come back and work with both school districts to improve on areas of need. They have also left each school district with a list of other resources that they can explore in the interim. The possibility of the DoDEA receiving grant authority is also of interest to area schools. By receiving this, they could then provide grants and enter cooperative agreements with the school districts. However, there is no date set for this authority, although they are hoping for 2008-2009. The DoDEA will be teaming with other agencies, both DoD and non-governmental, to ensure success of this process. One of the agencies they will be teaming with is the Military Child Education Coalition. According to their website, the MCEC is a nonprofit organization that promotes partnerships and provides for networking of military installations and their supporting school districts. Their focus is to address transition and other educational issues related to the military-connected child, including active duty, National Guard and Reserves. MCEC is no stranger to Columbus AFB. MCEC's Executive Director, Dr. Mary Keller visited Columbus in 2004 and sponsored Guidance Counselor training for area counselors at East Mississippi Community College in 2005. For more information on the DoDEA, visit their website at www.dodea.edu.