DoDEA cancels school closings

Defense officials have canceled the five furlough days that would have forced the Department of Defense Education Activity schools to close for five days at the beginning of the school year, a defense official said.

“This is great news for our members and their students,” said Chuck McCarter, president of the Federal Education Association, in a statement. “Student learning should never have been threatened by these furloughs in the first place. Let’s hope lawmakers and the Pentagon realize how close they came to doing real damage to classroom learning in our schools and never again consider shortchanging military dependents of the education promised to them as a viable option for fixing politically manufactured budget issues.”

In addition, defense officials have reduced the number of furlough days for civilians from 11 days to six.