AN ACT CONCERNING THE INTERSTATE COMPACT ON EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY FOR MILITARY CHILDREN.

AN ACT CONCERNING THE INTERSTATE COMPACT ON EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY FOR MILITARY CHILDREN.

This bill (1) enacts and commits Connecticut to the terms of the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children and (2) creates an Interstate Commission on Educational Opportunity for Military Children to administer and enforce the compact. It also expands the National Guard tuition waiver program at UConn and in the Connecticut State University (CSU) system to include graduate programs (see BACKGROUND).

The compact provides a legal mechanism, and creates uniform standards, for schools and local education agencies to use to facilitate placement, enrollment, graduation, data collection, and other decisions involving children in kindergarten through grade 12 when they move to other states because their parents are deployed on active duty in the U. S. Armed Services. The compact's stated purpose is to remove barriers to educational success imposed on such children because of their parents' frequent moves and deployment.

The compact applies to children of (1) active-duty armed forces members, including National Guard members and reservists on active duty under Title 10 of federal law; (2) veterans severely injured and medically discharged or retired, for one year after discharge or retirement; and (3) service members who die on active duty or from active duty injuries, for one year after death.

The compact outlines the commission's purposes, powers and duties, organizational structure, operating procedures, rulemaking functions and requirements; liability issues; and other subjects. It requires open meetings and public inspection of the commission's official records. Its rules have the force and effect of statutory law and are binding on all states. It may levy an annual assessment on member states to cover the cost of its operations, activities, and staff.

Any state may join the compact. Any member state may withdraw by repealing the enacting legislation. The compact takes effect when 10 states have enacted it. It supersedes conflicting laws in member states. (To date, no state has adopted this compact. )

*House Amendment “A” adds the graduate school tuition waiver for guard members.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage for the compact; July 1, 2008 for the tuition waiver for guard members.

The compact's stated purpose is to remove barriers to educational success imposed on children of military families because of their parents' frequent moves and deployment. It aims to:

1. facilitate their timely enrollment and ensure that they are not placed at a disadvantage because of (a) variations in entrance or age requirements or (b) the difficulty in transferring education records from the previous school districts;

2. facilitate their placement so that they are not disadvantaged by variations in attendance requirements, scheduling, sequencing, grading, course content, or assessment;

3. facilitate their qualification and eligibility for enrollment, educational programs, and participation in extracurricular academic, athletic, and social activities;

4. facilitate on-time graduation.

5. provide for promulgation and enforcement of administrative implementing rules;

6. provide for uniform collection and sharing of information among member states, schools, and military families;

7. promote coordination with other compacts affecting military children; and

8. promote flexibility and cooperation between the educational systems, parents, and students to achieve educational success for the students.

1. active-duty members of the uniformed services (U. S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Public Health Services), including guard members and reservists on active duty under Title 10 of federal law;

2. members or veterans of the uniformed services severely injured and medically discharged or retired, for one year after such discharge or retirement; and

3. members of the uniformed services who die on active duty or from active-duty injuries, for one year after death.

The compact specifically excludes from its coverage children of (1) inactive guard members and reservists, (2) veterans and retired members of the uniformed services not included above, and (3) other U. S. Department of Defense (DOD) personnel and other federal agency civilian and contract employees not defined as active-duty members of the uniformed services.

The compact applies to local education agencies. It defines these as public authorities constituted by the state to control and direct kindergarten to grade 12 schools (i. e. , local and regional school boards).

If a school cannot release official education records to parents for transfer purposes, the custodian of the records in the sending state must give the parents a complete set of unofficial records containing uniform information as determined by the Interstate Commission. When the school in the receiving state gets the unofficial records, it must (1) place the student as quickly as possible, based on the unofficial records, pending validation by the official records, and (2) ask the sending state for the official records. Within 10 days of receiving the request, or within a reasonable time set by the commission, the school must provide the official records.

The compact defines “educational records” as the official records, files, and data directly related to a student and maintained by the school or local education agency, including records encompassing all the material kept in the student's cumulative folder such as general identifying data, records of attendance and of academic work completed, records of achievement and results of evaluative tests, health data, disciplinary status, test protocols, and individualized education programs.

A receiving state must give students 30 days from the enrollment date, or a deadline set by the commission, to obtain any immunizations the state requires. For a series of immunizations, the initial vaccinations must be obtained within 30 days or a time reasonably determined under the commission's rules.

Students must be allowed to continue their enrollment at grade level in the receiving state commensurate with their grade level, including kindergarten, in the sending state at the time of transition, regardless of age. Students who satisfactorily complete the prerequisite grade level in the sending state may enroll in the next highest grade level in the receiving state, regardless of age. Students transferring after the start of the school year must enter schools in the receiving state on their validated level from an accredited school in the sending state.

When a student transfers before or during a school year, the receiving school must initially place him or her in educational courses based on his or her enrollment in, and educational assessments conducted at, the sending school, if the courses are offered. Course placement includes Honors, International Baccalaureate, Advanced Placement, vocational, technical, and career pathways courses. The paramount considerations for placement must be the student's academic program from the previous school and promoting placement in academically and career challenging courses. This does not preclude a school in the receiving state from performing subsequent evaluations to ensure appropriate placement and continued enrollment of the student in the courses.

The receiving state school must initially honor placement of the student in educational programs based on (1) current educational assessments conducted at the school in the sending state or (2) participation and placement in like programs in the sending state. These include (1) gifted and talented programs and (2) English as a second language program. A school in the receiving state may perform subsequent evaluations to ensure appropriate placement of the student.

In compliance with this federal law, a receiving state must initially provide comparable services to a student with disabilities based on his current individualized education program.

In compliance with the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, receiving states must make reasonable accommodations and modifications to address the needs of incoming students with disabilities, subject to an existing 504 or Title II Plan, to provide students with equal education access. This does not preclude the schools in the receiving state from performing subsequent evaluations to ensure appropriate student placement.

The compact requires that local education agency administrative officials be given flexibility to waive course and program prerequisites, or other preconditions, for placement in courses and programs offered under the jurisdiction of a local education agency.

A student whose parent or legal guardian is called to active duty for, is on leave from, or “immediately returned” from deployment in a combat or combat-support zone must be granted additional excused absences at the discretion of the local education agency superintendent to visit with his or her parent or legal guardian “relative to such leave or deployment of the parent or guardian. ”

The compact defines deployment as the period one month before a service member's departure on military orders to six months after he or she returns to his “home station. ”

Under the compact, special power of attorney for the guardianship of a child of a military family, executed under applicable law, is sufficient for enrollment and other purposes requiring parental participation and consent.

A transitioning military child living with a noncustodial parent or other person standing in loco parentis in a jurisdiction other than that of the custodial parent may continue to attend the school in which he or she was enrolled while living with the custodial parent. A local education agency cannot charge local tuition to such children.

Education agencies must facilitate the inclusion of transitioning military children in extracurricular activities, regardless of application deadlines, to the extent they are otherwise qualified.

Local education agencies must incorporate the following procedures to facilitate the on-time graduation of military children. Agency officials must (1) waive specific courses required for graduation if the child satisfactorily completed similar course work in another local education agency's jurisdiction or (2) provide reasonable justification for denial. If the agency does not grant the waiver to a student who would qualify to graduate from the sending school, it must provide an alternative means of completing the required coursework so the student can graduate on time.

A receiving state must accept (1) exit or end-of-course exams required for graduation from the sending state; (2) national norm-referenced achievement tests; or (3) alternative testing, instead of testing requirements for graduation in the receiving state. If the receiving state cannot accommodate these alternatives for a student transferring in his or her senior year, then the following provision applies.

If a military student who meets graduation requirements in his or her state transfers at the beginning or during his or her senior year and is ineligible to graduate after all alternatives are considered, the agencies in both jurisdictions must ensure that the student gets a diploma from the sending agency. If one of the states is not a compact member, the member state must use its best efforts to facilitate the on-time graduation of the student in accordance with pertinent compact provisions.

Each member state must create a state council or use an existing body or board to coordinate the state's participation in, and compliance with, the compact and commission activities with government agencies, local education agencies, and military installations.

Each member state may determine its council membership. But it must include the state education superintendent, superintendent of a school district with a high concentration of military children, a military installation representative, one representative each from the legislative and executive branches of government, and other offices and stakeholder groups the council deems appropriate. A state that does not have a school district deemed to contain a high concentration of military children may appoint a superintendent from another school district to represent local education agencies on the council.

Each state's council must appoint or designate a military family education liaison to help military families and the state implement the compact.

The governor, or other person determined by the state, must appoint a compact commissioner to administer and manage the state's participation in the compact. The commissioner and the military family education liaison are ex-officio members of the council, unless either is already a full voting member of the council.

ARTICLE IX—INTERSTATE COMMISSION ON EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY FOR MILITARY CHILDREN

The compact creates the Interstate Commission on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. Its activities are “the formation of public policy and are a discretionary state function. ” It is a body corporate and joint agency of the member states having all the responsibilities, powers, and duties under the compact and additional powers conferred upon it by a subsequent concurrent action of the participating states' respective legislatures in accordance with the compact.

The commission consists of voting and ex-officio, nonvoting, representatives who are members of interested organizations.

It must have one voting representative from each member state who is that state's compact commissioner. Each member state represented at a commission meeting has one vote. A majority of the total member states constitutes a quorum for the transaction of business, unless the commission's bylaws set a larger quorum. A representative cannot delegate a vote to another member state, but if a commissioner cannot attend a meeting, the governor or state council may delegate voting authority to another person from the state for a specific meeting. The bylaws may provide for meetings of the commission to be conducted by telecommunication or electronic communication.

Ex-officio members, as defined in the bylaws, may include, among others, representative organizations of military family advocates, local education agency officials, parent and teacher groups, the U. S. DOD, the Education Commission of the States, the Interstate Agreement on the Qualification of Educational Personnel and other interstate compacts affecting the education of children of military members.

The commission must establish an executive committee, which must include commission officers and other commissioners determined by the bylaws. When the commission is not in session, the committee may act on its behalf, except to make rules. It must oversee the day-to-day activities of administering the compact, including enforcement and compliance with its provisions, bylaws and rules, and other such duties as deemed necessary.

DOD must serve as an ex-officio, nonvoting member of the executive committee. Executive committee members serve one-year terms. Each has one vote.

The commission must establish bylaws and rules outlining conditions and procedures for making information and official records publicly available for inspection or copying. It may exempt from disclosure information or official records that would adversely affect personal privacy rights or proprietary interests.

The commission must meet at least once each calendar year. Its chairperson may call additional meetings and must call additional meetings if a majority of member states asks for one.

The commission must give public notice of all its meetings. The meetings must be open to the public, except as the rules or compact otherwise provides. The commission and its committees may close a meeting, or portion thereof, if it determines by two-thirds vote that an open meeting is likely to:

1. relate solely to internal personnel practices and procedures,

2. disclose matters specifically exempted from disclosure by federal and state statute,

3. disclose privileged or confidential trade secrets or commercial or financial information,

4. involve formally censuring or accusing a person of a crime,

5. disclose personal information where disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,

6. disclose investigative records compiled for law enforcement purposes, or

7. specifically relate to the commission's participation in a civil action or other legal proceeding.

The commission may direct its legal counsel or designee to certify that a meeting may be closed and cite each relevant criterion governing the closure of any meeting, or portion of a meeting, which is closed under to this provision. It must (1) keep minutes that fully and clearly describe all matters discussed in a meeting and (2) provide a full and accurate summary of actions taken, and the reasons for it, including a description of the views expressed and the record of a roll call vote. All documents considered in connection with an action must be identified in the minutes. All minutes and documents of a closed meeting must be sealed, subject to release by a majority vote of the commission.

The commission must collect standardized data on the educational transition of the children of military families under the compact as its rules direct. The rules must specify the data to be collected, collection method, and data exchange and reporting requirements. Such methods of data collection, exchange, and reporting must, as far as reasonably possible, conform to current technology and “coordinate its information functions with the appropriate custodian of records as identified in the bylaws and rules. ”

The commission must create a process for military officials, education officials, and parents to inform it when (1) any alleged violations of the compact or its rules occur or (2) a state or local education agencies do not address issues under the jurisdiction of the compact or its rules. This does not create a private right of action against the commission or member states.

1. provide for dispute resolution among member states;

2. promulgate rules that have the force and effect of statutory law and are binding on all states, and take all necessary actions to achieve the compact's goals, purposes, and obligations;

3. issue, upon request of a member state, advisory opinions on the meaning or interpretation of the compact, its bylaws, rules, and actions;

4. enforce compliance with the compact, commission rules and bylaws, using all necessary and proper means, including the judicial process;

5. establish and maintain offices in one of the member states;

6. buy and maintain insurance and bonds;

7. borrow, accept, hire, or contract for personnel services;

8. establish and appoint committees including an executive committee to act on its behalf;

9. elect or appoint such officers, attorneys, employees, agents, or consultants, and fix their compensation, define their duties, and determine their qualifications;

10. establish personnel policies and programs relating to conflicts of interest, compensation rates, and personnel qualifications;

11. accept, receive, use, and dispose of donations and grants of money, equipment, supplies, material, and services;

12. lease, buy, and accept contributions or donations of, or otherwise own, hold, improve, or use any property, real, personal, or mixed;

13. sell, convey, mortgage, pledge, lease, exchange, abandon, or otherwise dispose of any property, real, personal or mixed;

14. establish a budget and make expenditures;

15. adopt a seal and bylaws governing its management and operation;

16. report annually to member states' legislatures, governors, judiciary, and state councils on its activities during the preceding year, including any recommendations it adopted;

17. coordinate education, training, and public awareness on the compact, its implementation, and operation for pertinent officials and parents;

18. establish uniform standards for reporting, collecting, and exchanging data;

19. maintain corporate books and records in accordance its bylaws;

20. perform functions necessary or appropriate to achieve the compact's purposes; and

21. provide for uniform collection and sharing of information among member states, schools, and military families under this compact.

The commission must, by a majority of the members present and voting, adopt bylaws to govern its conduct as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of the compact. It must within 12 months after its first meeting, among other things:

1. establish its fiscal year;

2. establish an executive committee, and other committees as necessary;

3. provide for establishing committees and for governing any general or specific delegation of authority or commission function;

4. provide reasonable procedures for calling and conducting meetings and providing meeting notices;

5. establish titles and responsibilities of commission officers and staff;

6. provide a mechanism for terminating the commission and returning left over funds on the termination of the compact after debts and obligations are paid and reserved; and

7. provide start-up rules for initially administering the compact.

Annually, the commission, by a majority of its members, must elect from its membership a chairperson, vice-chairperson, and treasurer, each having such authority and duties specified in the commission's bylaws. The chairperson or, in the chairperson's absence or disability, the vice-chairperson, must preside at all of the commission's meetings. The officers serve without compensation or remuneration but, subject to the availability of budgeted funds, must be reimbursed for ordinary and necessary costs and expenses incurred performing commission business.

The executive committee must have such authority and perform duties outlined in the bylaws. It must, among other things:

The committee may, subject to commission approval, appoint or retain an executive director for the period, upon the terms and conditions, and for the compensation, the commission considers appropriate. The executive director must (1) serve as secretary to the commission, but cannot be a member of it and (2) hire and supervise the other personnel the commission authorizes.

The commission's executive director and its employees are immune from suit and liability, either personally or in their official capacities, for property damage or personal injury or other civil liability claims caused or arising out of or relating to an actual or alleged act, error, or omission that occurred, or that they had a reasonable basis for believing occurred, within the scope their employment. Any such liability may not exceed the liability limits under the Constitution and laws of the state for state officials, employees, and agents. The commission is considered to be an instrumentality of the states for the purposes of such actions. The protections do not apply, and may not be construed to apply, in cases of intentional or willful and wanton misconduct.

The commission must defend the executive director, its employees, and commission representatives in any civil action seeking to impose liability arising out of an actual or alleged act, error, or omission that occurred within the scope of the commission's employment or that the defendant had a reasonable basis for believing occurred within the scope of that employment. The defense is subject to the approval of the attorney general or other appropriate legal counsel of the member state represented by the commission. It does not apply in cases involving intentional or willful and wanton misconduct.

To the extent not covered by the state involved, member state, or the commission, commission representatives or employees must be held harmless in the amount of a settlement or judgment, including attorney's fees and costs, arising out of an actual or alleged acts, errors, or omissions that occurred within the scope of their employment, or that they had a reasonable basis for believing occurred within such scope. The provision does not apply in cases resulting from intentional or willful and wanton misconduct on the part of such persons.

The commission must promulgate reasonable rules to effectively and efficiently achieve the compact's purposes. If it exercises rulemaking authority beyond the scope of such purposes or its powers under the compact, the action is invalid and has no legal effect.

Its rules must be made under a rulemaking process that substantially conforms to the 1991 federal “Model State Administrative Procedure Act,” Uniform Laws Annotated, Vol. 15, p. 1 (2000) as amended, as appropriate to the commission's operations.

Anyone may petition for judicial review of a commission rule, within 30 days after it is promulgated. The filing of a petition does not stay or otherwise prevent the rule from taking effect, unless the court finds that the petitioner has a substantial likelihood of success. The court must give deference to the commission's actions consistent with applicable law. It cannot find the rule unlawful if it represents a reasonable exercise of the commission's authority.

If a majority of member states' legislatures rejects a rule by enacting a statute or resolution in the same way it used to adopt the compact, the rule has no further force and effect in any member state.

The compact and implementing rules have the force of statutory law. The executive, legislative, and judicial branches of member states must enforce the compact and act as necessary and appropriate to accomplish its purposes and intent.

Courts must take judicial notice of the compact and its rules in any judicial or administrative proceeding in a member state on compact provisions that may affect the commission's powers, responsibilities, or actions. The commission is entitled to receive all service of process in any such proceeding, and has standing to intervene in the proceeding for all purposes. Failure to provide service of process to the commission renders a judgment or order void as to the commission, compact, or promulgated rules.

If the commission determines that a member state failed to perform its obligations or responsibilities under the compact, bylaws, or promulgated rules, it must (1) send written notice to the defaulting state and other member states of the nature of the default, the means to correct it, and any commission action and (2) provide remedial training and specific technical assistance on the default.

If the defaulting state fails to cure the default, its membership must be terminated by a majority of the member states, and all its rights, privileges, and benefits under the compact are ended from the effective date of the termination. Correcting the default does not relieve the state of obligations or liabilities it incurred when it was in default.

The commission may suspend or terminate a member state only after exhausting all other means of securing compliance. It must give notice of intent to suspend or terminate the state to (1) the state's governor and House and Senate majority and minority leaders and (2) each of the member states. The state is responsible for all assessments, obligations, and liabilities incurred through, and obligations that extend beyond, the effective date of suspension or termination.

The commission cannot bear costs for any state found to be in default or suspended or terminated, unless it and the state agree to this in writing.

A defaulting state may appeal commission actions by petitioning the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia or the federal district where the commission has its principal offices. The prevailing party must be awarded all litigation costs, including reasonable attorney's fees.

The commission must attempt, if asked by a member state, to resolve compact disputes involving member states and between member and nonmember states. Its rules must provide for both mediation and binding dispute resolution, as appropriate.

The commission, in the reasonable exercise of its discretion, must enforce the compact and its rules. To enforce compliance with the compact or commission rules and bylaws against a defaulting state, it may, by majority vote of the members, initiate legal action in the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia or, at its discretion, in the federal district where it has its principal offices. It may seek both injunctive relief and damages. If judicial enforcement is necessary, the prevailing party must be awarded all litigation costs, including reasonable attorney's fees. The compact's remedies are not exclusive; the commission may avail itself of any other remedies available under state law “or the regulation of a profession. ”

The commission must pay, or make provisions to pay, the reasonable expenses of its establishment, organization, and ongoing activities. It may levy on, and collect from, member states an annual assessment to cover the cost of its operations, activities, and staff. The levy must be sufficient to cover its annual approved budget. The commission must use a formula to allocate the aggregate annual assessment and promulgate a rule binding upon all member states.

The commission cannot incur any obligations before securing adequate funds, and it cannot pledge the credit of any member state, unless the state authorizes it to do so. It must keep accurate accounts of receipts and disbursements, which must be (1) subject to audit and accounting procedures established under its bylaws and (2) audited yearly by a certified or licensed public accountant. It must include the audit report as part of its annual report.

Any state may join the compact, which takes effect and is binding when 10 states enact it. After that, it is effective and binding on any state that enacts it.

The commission may propose compact amendments for enactment by member states. An amendment takes effect and is binding upon the commission and member states when enacted into law by unanimous consent of the member states.

Governors of nonmember states or their designees must be invited to participate in commission activities as nonvoters.

Once it takes effect, the compact continues in force and binds all member states. A state may withdraw by repealing the statute that enacted the compact. The withdrawal takes effect one year after the effective date of the repealing statute and written notification to the governor of each member jurisdiction.

The withdrawing state must immediately give the commission chairperson written notice of the introduction of the repealing legislation. The commission must notify other member states of the state's intent to withdraw within 60 days after it gets the notice.

The withdrawing state is responsible for all assessments, obligations, and liabilities incurred through the effective withdrawal date, including performance of any obligations that extend beyond that date.

A state may be reinstated upon reenacting the compact or on a later date as the commission determines.

The compact dissolves on the date when only one state remains a member. Upon dissolution, it becomes null and void and has no further force or effect. It must wind up its business and affairs and distribute any surplus funds in accordance with its bylaws.

The compact's provisions are severable and must be liberally construed to achieve their purposes. The compact does not prohibit the applicability of other interstate compacts to which the states are members. If any phrase, clause, sentence, or provision is deemed unenforceable, the remaining provisions are enforceable.

The compact does not prevent the enforcement of any other law of a member state that is not inconsistent with the compact. It supersedes conflicting laws in any member state.

All of the commission's lawful actions, including its rules and bylaws, are binding upon the member states. All agreements between the commission and the states are binding in accordance with their terms. If any compact provision exceeds the constitutional limits imposed on the legislature of any member state, the provision shall be ineffective to the extent of the conflict with the constitutional provision in question in that member state.

By law, UConn and CSU must waive tuition in undergraduate programs for qualified Connecticut National guard members. To qualify for a tuition waiver under existing law, the member must be (1) certified by the adjutant general, or his designee, to be in good standing and (2) enrolled in or accepted for admission to a degree-granting program.