Military Families

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden teamed up this week to continue their work supporting military families by helping to kick off a White House promoted initiative called Joining Forces, designed to encourage community and business support for those who are serving in the military and their dependents. This is not the first administration initiative of this kind; back in January, a broad call from the White House to all federal agencies was titled Strengthening our Military Families: Meeting America's Commitment, which specifically included "ensuring excellence in military children's education and their development."

All children of military personnel are subject to the stress of frequent moves, parental absence, and sometimes, parental loss. But a particularly vulnerable group of children -- those with learning and other disabilities -- are even more affected than most. An excellent starting place for those seeking to help all children of military families and to understand the issues faced by those children with special educational and medical needs is the website Wrightslaw. We've recommended this site before for information on legal issues related to education. Pam and Peter Wright, who operate the site, have a son, Jason,  in the military, and the needs of these families is a subject clearly close to their hearts. The Wrightslaw site includes extensive links to all sorts of resources, reports, and services. These families make enormous sacrifices. It is important that their children receive an appropriate education and services, whatever their needs may be.