The Virginia Council on the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children (the Council) was created in 2009 to consider all matters related to the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. The Compact seeks to remove barriers to educational success imposed on children of military families because of frequent moves and deployment of their parents. The Compact addresses such issues as timely enrollment and placement, on-time graduation, and sharing of information between states to ensure a smooth educational transition for dependents of military families as they move from and to other states.

Virginia is home to some of the Nation's largest and most important military installations, so it is not surprising that the Commonwealth's schools educate more military children than most states. As of July 31, 2022, the United States Defense Manpower Data Center estimated that there are 71,293 school-age military-associated children of active-duty military, United States Public Health Service (USPHS), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) members ranging in age from five to eighteen residing in Virginia. According to this data, Virginia is home to nearly 11,000 more military-connected students than Texas, the next highest state. These are students whose parents serve on active duty in the United States Armed Forces, United States Reserve Forces, or in the Virginia National Guard.

The average military student faces transition challenges more than twice during high school, and most military children will attend six to nine different school systems from kindergarten to twelfth grade. The Compact seeks to make transitions easier for the children of military families so that they are afforded the same opportunities for educational success as other children and are not penalized or delayed in achieving their educational goals.

The continued focus for the Council in 2023 was identifying the needs of key stakeholders and working to ease the needs of military-connected children in our schools. New appointments to the Council occurred in May of 2023 and the Council met for the first time on October 26, 2023. This executive summary provides an overview of the work conducted by the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) and the Council to support military-connected children and their families.