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For more information, contact                                Lisa Church
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May 7, 2008

MILITARY-FRIENDLY BILL EASES TRANSFER HURDLES

JEFFERSON CITY – A bill that eases some of the hurdles military families face when relocating to Missouri has passed the House of Representatives and awaits Senate consideration.

House Bill 2062, sponsored by Rep. David Pearce (R-Warrensburg), addresses many of the aggravations military families may face when moving to a Missouri base, especially when enrolling their children for school. 

“I often hear from military families about how their kindergarteners or first-graders have trouble advancing into the next class because of differences in age requirements, or how their high school juniors and seniors get held back or have to repeat government courses because of the differing   requirements among school districts,” Rep. Pearce said. “These children – like their parents – make sacrifices for their country by moving when the government says they need to. They shouldn’t have to suffer other undue consequences in their education.”

Rep. Pearce’s bill allows dependents of active duty military to:
• Satisfy the graduation requirement for a government class by accepting classes completed in other districts
• Advance to kindergarten or first grade after completing pre-kindergarten or kindergarten in another state, even though the child has not reached Missouri’s required age for that class by Aug. 1
• Enroll in the Missouri Virtual School full-time if they meet certain criteria

The bill also encourages the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and State Board of Education to adopt programs that allow the transfer of credits and help ease the transition into Missouri schools.

The bill also provides the spouse and children of deceased and disabled servicemen and women with full-tuition grants to Missouri’s public and private colleges and universities. The grants, which also include funding for room and board and books, benefit the families of Missouri servicemen and women killed in action after Sept. 11, 2001, or those 80 percent disabled due to a combat-action injury.

Other provisions of the bill include:
• Adding the chairman of the Missouri Veterans Commission to the Missouri Military Preparedness and Enhancement Commission
• Making the chairman of the Missouri Military Preparedness and Enhancement Commission an ex officio member of the Missouri Veterans Commission
• Requiring the State Board of Education to allow a provisional teacher’s certificate to relocating spouses of military members before completion of a background check if the spouse holds a teacher’s certificate in another state that requires a background check and has relocated within the last year
• Renames the Guard at Home Program to Hero at Home and extends it to cover the first year after discharge, to cover reservists and to cover situations in which an individual can not return to his or her previous employment.

Pearce, who is serving his third term in the House, has filed as a Republican candidate for the 31st District Senate seat, which includes Cass, Bates, Vernon and Johnson counties.