Military:  AE Form 352-1B  Parent Choice of Education for School-age Children

On this page:
Command oversight of homeschooling
AE Form 352-1B
Rationale for viewpoint of 'educational profiling'
Looking for evidence of misconduct

 

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Command oversight of homeschooling

On a military homeschool support list, the question came up concerning a 'new' form distributed in some military communities in Europe: AE Form 352-1B, Parent Choice of Education for School-age Children.  The expiration date on the form (standard for the military) is 14 April 2006, but, to me, that only indicates that it was probably first put into use in this format on 14 April 2005.  The use of expired, but already printed, forms is also standard.

Although no one has asked, I consider this form, as it is presented, to be outside the legitimate area of a commander's 'need to know' because a commander has no inherent authority over educational concerns.  This is demonstrated by the DoDEA implementation manual in which the commander is given no say-so in educational matters, even concerning DoD funded schools for which the commander has logistical responsibility, and for whose employees the commander must provide administrative support such as ID cards, postal services, licenses to drive, car registration, ration cards, and so on. 

The usual reason given for commanders needing to know if kids are being homeschooled, is "educational neglect."  Although neglect and abuse are legitimate areas for command action, I doubt that educational neglect takes place in the absence of other forms of neglect or abuse.  It would be strange to find parents who are otherwise competent and rule-minding concerning their children, but who neglect to educate the kids:  three-squares, daily baths, V-chip, Net Nanny, immunizations, but no school?  It doesn't track. 

The rationale that homeschooling, in and of itself, is a red flag for neglecting education is bogus.  Without the prompting of an official form whose purpose, "for example," is to detect educational neglect by tracking families, would any commander have cause to suspect the families of anything?  Would any commander consider dabbling in a family's education choices?

If a family chooses public schooling, the commander can have no opinion about the choice.

If a family chooses private schooling, the commander can have no opinion about the choice.

If a family chooses a host-nation school, the commander can have no opinion about the choice.

If a family chooses an international school, the commander can have no opinion about the choice.

If a family chooses to allow a child to go to a boarding school, the commander can have no opinion about the choice.

Command interference in a family's school choice is inappropriate.

Why is it, then, that if a family chooses homeschooling, all of a sudden, command has an interest?  Are the families guilty of educational neglect until proven innocent merely because the parents choose to homeschool?

 

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AE Form 352-1B

In the discussion on the list before I found the AE form online, I conceded that collecting the information as to 'which children would be enrolled where' would be useful to DoDDS (the overseas military school system) because the system is funded through enrollment numbers.  Having these numbers would enable the supervising administrators to better project needs for the coming year.  This use would be in line with a recently added paragraph in the DoD implementation manual for the overseas dependent schools.

• DoD 1342.6-M, Administrative and Logistic Responsibilities for DoD Dependents Schools
  
  C1.4.3.  The Installation Commanders shall:
  C1.4.3.7.  Inform the pertinent District Superintendent's Office of the names and duty locations of all known incoming school age dependents and ensure that the sponsors of such dependents are informed about school locations, commuting areas, and school sponsored meetings to introduce sponsors to school programs.

It is only with my tongue slightly in my cheek that I make the wry observation that this information is now collected in order to tell personnel where the schools are ... the same personnel who had to pass map-reading blocks of instruction to get out of basic training, and who are supposed to negotiate combat zones through the fog of war.  I find it curious that, apparently in the opinion of the writers of the manual, that  these people are assumed to be unable to find a large building, often in the middle of the housing area, with all the kids in it -- the one with 'School' written over the front door.

In any case, information about the commuting areas is available from the installation's Housing Referral Office, an office that all sponsors, military or civilian, wanting to rent a local house or apartment must use.  Information about the schools is also given out during inprocessing, another process that all newly arrived personnel  must go through.  If the newly arrived person manages to miss any school information through those processes, the installation family service organizations also have school information, as do the schools themselves.  This has been standard practice for decades.

• Isles District, School bus information
  
  Bus Routes
  ... Commuting zone information is provided to the housing referral office and is also available in the SBO. Housing offices also provide this information during newcomer orientation/in-processing. ...

 

I was skeptical about the 'information' use of the AE form, and after seeing the form itself, I've changed my opinion about the DoDDS funding aspect as well.  It appears to me that the reason for the collection of the information is educational profiling.

•  AE Form 352.1B Parent Choice of Education for School-age Children
  
  Principal purpose(s): To account for school-age children's education.
  Routine use(s): School liaison officers will provide this information to commanders for appropriate and authorized purposes (for example, allegations of "educational neglect" (DODD 6400.1)).

"for example"?  What other reason would there be in DoDD 6400.1, or in the Family Advocacy Program manual?

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Rationale for viewpoint about 'educational profiling'

By way of background, before 2001, the United States Army Europe (USAREUR) command did not do much of anything about homeschooling.  Some installation commanders had local policies, but there was no command-wide focus on homeschoolers.  This changed after a summer of 'focus group' activity aimed at instituting some kind of regulatory oversight, in line with recommendations from the European Schools Council's 19 April 2001 meeting.

• European Schools Council, 9 April 2001, Minutes (see page 7)
  
  While the vast majority of parents who home school children are dedicated to the provision of a high quality education for their children, the issue facing commanding officers is what authority they have to intervene in situations that may be considered educational neglect.  The report responded to the charges from DEC members and details the results of the Joint Home-School Working Group findings.
   
• Dependents Education Council, 7 June 2001, Minutes (see page 4)
  
  Brigadier General Emerson N. Gardner, USMC, Deputy Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Atlantic, recommended a legal status be obtained to ascertain whether or not the Services are supporting an illegal activity.

 

Given that there is no educational oversight of American children outside the United States by any American authority, that initiative stopped.

• Home Education Magazine, September-October 2001, Military Homeschoolers Overseas

On 11 July 2001 as this magazine was going to press, the following letter was received by NHEN representatives from Joseph D. Tafoya, Director DoDEA:

"Thank you for the information that you enclosed about home schooling from the National Home Education Network. It is a helpful addition to our information about home schools.

"In response to your inquiry dated June 15, 2001; at this time there are no plans for the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) to hold a Home School Task Force meeting. On June 7, 2001, the Dependents' Education Council (DEC) members tabled proposed plans to look into the possible revision of our home school policy.

"It is unfortunate that remarks were made prematurely in Heidelberg about a possible task force. Your continued concern, however, about the educational welfare of our military children is to be commended. If I can be of any further assistance, please don't hesitate to contact me."

Despite the lack of authority for military commanders to oversee education -- whether in the United States or outside it --, the attitude that homeschooling is connected to neglect continued.

• European Schools Council, 7 September 2001, Minutes, see page 2
  
  d.   Home Schooling - Briefed by LTG Jordan.  The big concern for USAREUR is what are they to do with the few documented cases of children not being educated?  Due to potential educational neglect, they would like to track how many children in the command are being home schooled.  Another concern is that because home schooling is illegal in many countries within the European Command, should parents home school their kids?
   
• Dependents Education Council, 6 February 2002, Minutes, see page 2
  
  The working group feels that the solution is to negotiate agreements in countries where home schooling is an issue.  However, this does not resolve the current situation.  The level of interest by host nations is unknown. ...  Brigadier General Thomas R. Turner, Deputy U.S. Military Representative, NATO, reminded the group that this does not address the  issue of the Commander's responsibilities.  The DoDEA General Counsel reported that there is no regulation that addresses this issue, but that Commanders have the inherent authority to deal with this in whatever manner they feel is appropriate.  There is also nothing addressing DoDEA's authority in this area.

This concern about the legality of homeschooling in the host nations is curious because of the autonomous nature of DoDDS operations overseas for decades.  The Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), in which militarily affiliated persons are excused from compliance with some social requirements, such as payment into health insurance systems, payment of local taxes and such was well known.  Everyone on the DEC would have had a SOFA stamp in his or her passport.

And as for DoDEA authority, why didn't that DoDEA General Counsel have a familiarity with the public law (see:  Functions of Director) authorizing DoDEA's existence, and giving the Director of DoDEA authority only over the internal workings and personnel of the Activity?
 

• Guidance for overseas installation commanders regarding home schooling, 10 June 2003, for use at 26 June 2003 DEC Meeting   (see pages 2 - 5 at:  MEMORANDUM FOR SEE DISTRIBUTION -- SUBJECT: Educating School-Age Children)

 

 

The commander's inherent authority to maintain order, morale and discipline does not justify prying into a family's private choices when those choices are not causing problems.

If a family is causing problems, the commander has regulations and tools to use, such as UR 27-9, and the Civilian Misconduct Action Authority.  It is ludicrous to think that military commanders are helpless to deal with families who happen to be homeschooling.

 

• The Military Homeschooler, Overseas homeschooling, 5 February 2004, Calling families to account?, 2003/2004 Student Eligibility Enrollment Data Handbook
  
  The commander controls access to the military installation, and whether the overseas dependents are "command sponsored" or not, the commander may predicate continued logistical support (e.g., commissary and exchange privileges) for the sponsor’s school age dependents on enrollment in some school program that serves the interests of the child. Hence, the installation commander may require attendance in DoDDS, an alternative school approved by DoDDS, or some alternative program acceptable to the commander as a condition of continued command sponsorship."

 

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Looking for evidence of misconduct

 

While putting together this information, I was curious as to whether, perhaps, I was just 'missing the big picture' and that there were many instances within the command of feckless parents allowing stupid homeschooled children to wander around communities causing all manner of commotion.  To find out what was being reported, both in Europe and the Pacific,  I went to the site of the overseas American newspaper, the Stars and Stripes.  I searched for "homeschool," "home school," "educational neglect," and "neglect."  Of the articles mentioning homeschooling in one of its various spellings, and published before yesterday, 7 Sep 2006, I found:

• 8 September 2006,  Officials discuss options, worries of London Central school closing
• 6 September 2006, London Central school to be shut down at end of academic year 
• 2 September 2006, Revamped Stuttgart schools working out the kinks
• 27 August 2006, Monday isn’t back-to-school day for everyone in Europe
• 6 May 2005, Learning among siblings is 'safe environment,' says Yongsan mom
• 9 February 2004, Letters to the Editor, What’s the big deal?
• 7 - 13 September 2003, European and Mideast edition letters, Conclusions misleading
• 30 September 2001, Liaison officers help link DODDS schools, parents, base commands

None of these articles even slightly allude to an epidemic of educational neglect.  Now either there's one hell of a cover-up, or nothing's going on.

Are there cases of abuse in the command?  Of course there are.  Unfortunately, that's nothing new.  But are there a significant number of cases of abuse among homeschooling families?  It has to be 'significant' to mean that 'homeschooling' is the red flag and not whatever other factors are usual in these instances such as alcoholism, drug use, pedophilia, or a seriously dysfunctional parent.  (Search for "abused" at the Stripes site.)

Homeschooling families are being unfairly singled out for command scrutiny because of what appears to be 'educational bias' solely directed at homeschooling families. 

Over the years, there has always been scuttlebutt among parents about whether DoDDS is 'ahead' of stateside schools or 'behind' them.  Children have experienced school problems connected to PCSing between schools using different levels of materials at least since I was an Air Force Brat, and it's a trend that doesn't seem to be going away.

• Army MWR survey, Executive Summary of the Survey of Army Families IV , Spring 2001, page 31, second part of  question #95:
  
  Q95. Spouses with high school-aged children who accompanied them on PCS moves
  reported their child(ren) experienced the following problems because of changing
  schools:
  - Difficulty making social adjustments (make new friends, etc.) in the new school (44.0%)
  - Timing of move had a negative effect on participation in school-sponsored activities
  (29.1%)
  - Fell behind in coursework because of moving (28.7%)
  - Felt under-challenged because of quality of education at the new school (27.1%)
  - Lost credit (no credit given) for a course completed (24.9%)
  - Felt over-challenged because of quality of education at new school (17.1%)
  - Lost credit because the course was not offered at the new school (and thus could not be
  completed) (15.1%)

Programs through the regular schools come under scrutiny from disgruntled parents who aren't concerned about textbook sales by publishers, or experimental programs in schools.  Parents don't have the institutional luxury of experiments, their children have one childhood to be used for preparing for adulthood.  The parents want what is going on now, to be appropriate and adequate, if not excellent.

• MathLand and Connected Math Articles
  
  More Trouble, this time in the DoD (Update, Oct. 30, 1996)
  
  MathLand was adopted for Department of Defense Dependent Schools (DoDDS) overseas last year. (Korea, Japan, Germany etc) Parents are very upset about their children's growing ignorance in math skills despite A+ grades. As one parent said bluntly, "Last year in MathLand my son learned nothing. It was a complete waste. I want to send the bill to the DoD for his tutoring when we go back to the states." Another has hired a local tutor when her son dropped from the 94th percentile in math to the 40th in one year.

 

There is no one perfect program.  DoDDS isn't perfect, public schools aren't perfect, private schools aren't perfect, and homeschooling isn't perfect.  The problems with DoDDS haven't shut it down, and any problems with families who homeschool shouldn't bring out the mass-punishment streak in commanders.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.  And don't fix 'educational neglect' in the minds of school liaison officers, or community commanders through the use of a form whose only stated purpose is to start a file on homeschooling families.

• MEMORANDUM FOR SEE DISTRIBUTION
  SUBJECT: Educating School-Age Children
  b. Consolidate information from the forms and report it to the IMA-Europe (SFIM-EU-MW-C) according to the reference in paragraph 1b. This information will be reported by 1 October 2004 and by 30 April each year after that using the School Liaison Services Tool.

 

 

 

started 8 September 2006