House Approves Robbins' Military Families Compact Bill

Senate Bill 159 would ease transitions for students

Senator Bob Robbins' bill to help students of military families cope with the frequent and stressful relocations associated with active duty service is headed to the Governor for enactment into law.

The House of Representatives approved Senate Bill 159, Senator Robbins' Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children legislation. The Senate unanimously approved the legislation on March 7, 2011.

The measure authorizes Pennsylvania to enter into the Interstate Compact as a way to make education more accessible to children of military families and make school transfers and transitions more uniform and less stressful.

"I am pleased that this bill is headed to Governor Corbett for his signature, which will allow Pennsylvania to join this compact which helps students of military families ease into new schools," Senator Robbins said. "The average student of a military family faces transition challenges more than twice during high school and most military children will attend six to nine different school systems from kindergarten through graduation."

Currently, 35 states have already passed similar legislation and joined the compact.

"The Compact provides a comprehensive approach to address the major areas of education that are affected such as the transferring of education records, course sequencing, graduation requirements and power of custodial parents and guardianships during deployments," Senator Robbins said.

Contact:

Michael Hengst
(717) 787-1322