By Elaine Wilson, AFPS
Feb. 2, 2010
elaine.wilson@dma.mil
I was impressed by the money President Barack Obama set aside for Defense Department schools in his 2011 budget request.
If Congress agrees, the Department of Defense Education Activity will receive $439 million to replace or renovate 10 of its schools worldwide.
I spoke with an education activity official earlier today who said he was “ecstatic” by the request.
“The budget request demonstrates that this administration is fully behind education and very supportive of our military dependents,” said Kevin Kelly, the activity’s associate director for financial and business operations. “They understand the needs of the military – if we care for the families, folks will be able to get the job done.”
The education activity’s plan calls for new schools overseas in Belgium, Puerto Rico, Germany and the United Kingdom, as well as stateside in North Carolina, Georgia, New York and Virginia. The construction of the new schools will take two years, with completion scheduled for 2013, Kelly said.
Schools with limited electrical outlets and power will be replaced with state-of-the-art buildings equipped with the latest technology, he said. “We’re going to equip the schools with everything needed for the 21st century student,” he said.
This is the first step in a plan to replace or renovate more than 100 schools by 2015.
For more on the activity’s plans, read my American Forces Press Service article: “Budget Calls for New Defense Department Schools.”
For more on the president’s budget, go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/.