Impact Aid and the Education of Military Children

Children of military parents in the United States generally attend public school and have a portion of their education expenses paid for by the federal government through the Department of Education’s Impact Aid program. Impact Aid provides $900 million a year to approximately 1,400 local education agencies, which enroll 1.2 million eligible children, 36 percent of whom are military children. RAND studied this program, emphasizing the implications for military children. The authors contend that the funding formula is flawed because of inconsistent district boundary definitions, leading to wide variances in Impact Aid payments. However, military and civilian students generally have comparable educational opportunities. Military students are above average, but their migration rates are higher, which generate costs that DoD needs to evaluate