babble » blogs » Strollerderby
Strollerderby
Schools on U.S. Military Bases Worldwide are Crumbling
Added to the stress of saying good-bye, she's also facing a school that's falling apart.
K-12 schools on U.S. military bases around the school are falling apart and many don’t even meet the minimum Department of Defense standards, according a joint investigation by Newsweek and the Center for Public Integrity’s iWatchNews. Age, neglect and underfunding have left tens of thousands of school-age children of military personnel with a less than stellar education. What’s worse, some of the conditions are so bad the kids are actually in danger.
About a quarter of the half a million military kids live and go to school off base. But about 150,000 kids attend schools on military bases both in the U.S. and around the world. The must-read article in Newsweek lists some examples:
In Germany, for instance, the children of U.S. soldiers still go to class in World War II–era Nazi barracks that were cited for fire hazards just a few years ago. At Fort Riley in Kansas, students drink water tainted brown from corroding pipes, while at Fort Stewart in Georgia, mold that grew on walls and sprouted from floors was so serious at one school that the library had to be shuttered for emergency cleanup.
But the problem of aging and sometimes dangerous facilities is one that has gotten lost in the focus on funding years of wars and the crisis of injured soldiers returning home. Congressional representatives say they meet with countless industry reps hoping to sell the latest technological weaponary but only once in awhile does someone come in and say “please, improve the base schools.”
From Newsweek:
The military schools crisis is so little known that New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof recently suggested the military’s treatment of kids might perhaps be its “most impressive achievement,” while first lady Michelle Obama boasted in April that the administration has made the education of soldiers’ children a top priority.
The cost of bringing the schools up-to-date and, minimally, making them safe, pales in comparison to what gets budgeted for the wars themselves, but it takes the willingness to spend the money and to recognize that these schools — and the educations of the children who attend them — have fallen through the cracks. These are kids who have been separated from one or more parents for 18 months at a time, who like the active members of the military, are making a sacrifice.
The DOD has plans for updating many of the schools over the next few years, the investigation concluded. But for some kids that isn’t soon enough.
Photo: wikipedia.org
Go Back To Strollerderby
7 Comments
Gretchen Powers commented on Jun 28 11 at 4:23 pmRight. And you guys want government funded daycare?
Sara commented on Jun 28 11 at 4:31 pmThe buildings might be bad but I’ve never heard a bad thing about the schools themselves. They still exist in those places in the south because they’re so much better than than the schools in the districts off post.
My daughter went to daycare at the CDC on post. It was a much better program than the one she attended off post. The hours were unworkable for me though even as a school teacher with the daycare closing at 5:30
jenny tries too hard commented on Jun 28 11 at 5:21 pmYeah, the buildings for DOD schools often suck (DOD education itself is kind of a mixed bag, I think, though I’ve heard really good things about certain schools) ; the same goes for base housing, and the commissary PX/BX…the reason is that these are government buildings whose users are often not there long enough to really agitate for change and see it through. Inner-city and poor rural public schools (and public housing) often face similar challenges because the people who use those facilities don’t have the time/energy/education to effectively campaign for a change. Same story—government sucks at providing for your needs unless you have time and money and influence to keep on them.
Heather commented on Jun 28 11 at 8:46 pmMy daughter is scheduled to start kindergarten at one of the schools featured in the Newsweek article and it really upsets me. Why do we have to pay exorbitant fees for our children to attend private schools if we don’t want their health and safety endangered at the schools provided for them where they live? Most military families have enough to get by, but it takes some real sacrificing and striving to make private tuition happen. It seems to me that if we care about them and their education, we are stuck with the choice of private school or home school, whether we can comfortably afford it or not.
lam commented on Jun 28 11 at 10:23 pmThis disgusts me. People who volunteer to join the military are giving up so much. Combat personnel, in particular, are taking on incredible risk and trauma, both physical and psychological. I am ashamed as a citizen and taxpayer that their children, who are also making a big sacrifice, are being short-changed.
Bunnytwenty commented on Jun 29 11 at 12:48 pmPriorities: this country has ‘em.
Judy commented on Jul 18 11 at 2:50 pmWell to be honest most school back in the states are not that much better off. We’ll donate money to any other country, spend money on illegals coming to our country but our education system is failing. From the buildings to the education it’s self
Add your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes
Lori Garcia 
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.
7