Report urges school changes to keep military bases open

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A report from a state military commission calls for changes to the education system to help Missouri become a "military-friendly state."

The report, released Wednesday by the Military Preparedness and Enhancement Commission, outlines possible changes at the state and local level, including allowing military members to vote in local elections and receive college scholarships otherwise reserved for Missouri residents.

Commission members said before accepting the report by voice vote that they hope the proposed changes will help garner recognition by the Department of Defense as a "military-friendly state." That is an important designation, they said, because the Pentagon uses it to help determine which bases to try and close and which will remain open.

The military preparedness commission was created by state law a year ago -- about the same time that the Department of Defense announced plans to cut 3,700 jobs in Missouri and close the Air National Guard's 131st Fighter Wing in St. Louis.

That decision was confirmed in August by the Base Closure and Realignment Commission, a panel designed to ensure the fairness of the process.

Kent Thomas, a commission member from West Plains and chairman of the task force that authored the report, said the report's findings will be forwarded to the Pentagon.

The report calls for:

* Lawmakers to allow schools to exempt military family students from some required courses, especially history courses.

* School districts to be flexible with prerequisite courses to ensure transfer students can take advanced classes.

* A change to state law allowing students who have passed prekindergarten or kindergarten in another state to move to the next grade regardless of age.

* The Missouri State School Board Association to give fine art credit for foreign language classes.

* Allowing military personnel stationed at Fort Leonard Wood and Whiteman Air Force Base to vote in local and state elections.

* Expanding access to Bright Flight scholarships to military students who have lived in Missouri for less than two years.

The military preparedness commission also discussed plans to hire a consultant in anticipation of another round of proposed base closings in 2010. Missouri had hired a private consultant after the Pentagon announced its initial plans to close the air wing and cut jobs.

Commission Chairman Dalton Wright, of Lebanon, said the idea is to link efforts by a variety of concerned groups, including the state Department of Economic Development, citizen groups supporting both Whiteman Air Base and Fort Leonard Wood, the Missouri Development Finance Board and the commission.

He said the various groups had yet to have any formal talks.

"States that had consultants going into BRAC did better than states without one," Wright said. "And Missouri did well in areas where we had a consultant."

The consultant would likely be used to analyze Missouri for vulnerabilities that could lead to more base closings and to try to learn what the realignment commission is considering.

Committee members said they liked the idea of combining forces and resources, but Robert Welling, of Warrensburg, said dealing with the egos and turf wars among the partners could prove difficult.