Military Dependents' Education

This testimony provides information on the current costs and enrollments for the following four military education programs: Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DODDS), which educate military dependents overseas; the Section 6 schools, which the Defense Department (DOD) runs on some military bases in the United States; the Impact Aid program, which provides money to local school districts to replace revenues lost due to federal activities and which is run by the Education Department; and the DOD program that provides supplemental financial aid to school districts with large numbers of students who are military dependents. GAO testified that the military downsizing overseas has reduced DODDS enrollment considerably, Section 6 schools are relatively unaffected, and the number of military Impact Aid children has increased slightly. GAO also discussed savings that could be achieved in DODDS but which would require changing long-standing policies and practices.