exempt DOD nine month employees (i.e.. teachers) from the furlough, allowing military children a full year of education.

" Preparing students for the jobs of the future starts with a strong school system." - quote from the home page of the Whitehouse.gov website. Why then are we allowing children of military and civilian employees to be affected by the furlough? DOD students worldwide will see a decrease in their instructional year of five days. In a recent article, the Director of DODEA, Marilee Fitzgerald noted that education research indicates instructional time is crucial, and that from an educator’s perspective, five days should be added to the school year, not subtracted from it. Military children already sacrifice so much, should they really have to sacrifice their education as well? Please sign this petition to exempt all nine month DOD employees from the furlough to allow a full school year.