It was with this in mind that the DoD, the Council of State Governments and more than 20 school-related organizations came together to form the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. Since its inception in 2008, 26 states (most of them with a high military population) have adopted the compact.

Compacts have been used for hundreds of years in America to provide states an effective, enforceable means of cooperatively addressing common problems without relinquishing power to the federal government. The Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority Compact of 1966 provides the metro system the ability to transport passengers throughout Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland without regard to borders.

Fort Myer’s Spates Community Club hosted a symposium Tuesday, where school officials from around the National Capital Region met to discuss their thoughts on the compact.

Col. Carl R. Coffman, Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall commander hosted the event, and he spoke at the opening of his experiences as a military parent.

He said that two of his sons were just finishing their second day of school when he got the call that he was to come to JBM-HH, and he had to deal with transitioning his sons to new schools.

‘‘That’s tough for a kid to deal with at that age, among the other things they deal with,” Coffman said. ‘‘What [educators] do is so important to us as military Families.”

The ICEOMC has four key components to it, each designed to help ease the transition for military children from school to school.

The enrollment section deals with the transferring of records, so a child can carry in his or her unofficial records into school and start from day one instead of waiting for the official transcripts arrive. This also helps ease the transfer of immunization records and keeps a uniform kindergarten entrance age, which can vary from state to state.

Placement involves recognizing each student’s placement into such programs as Honors, International Baccalaureate and Gifted and Talented, among others. It also helps the children with excused absences related to their parents’ deploying.

The compact also deals with issues such as eligibility for staying in the same school system and extracurricular activities. And the graduation component helps ease students should they have to move in their senior year, and it also helps them keep the credits they have accumulated so graduation isn’t delayed because of a move.

Richard L. Masters, general counsel for the ICEOMC, spoke at the event and answered some questions as to the goals of the compact.

‘‘This is more than just a cooperative agreement to do the right thing,” Masters said. ‘‘It’s a duly enacted statute approved by 26 states that has legal authority.”

He broke down some of the technicalities of the compact from a legal standpoint, and answered a few specific questions from school officials there. He stressed the importance of the compact in helping keep the student’s moving pains as easy as possible.

‘‘Without a compact like this, there would be 50 sets of rules, and hopefully instead of a case-by-case basis, these military children can all be dealt with in a consistent manner,” he said.

Coffman presented Masters and the other speaker, Julie Gifford, Mid-Atlantic state liaison, Office of the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy, with certificates of appreciation for their efforts during the symposium.

In his closing remarks he thanked Masters and Gifford, as well as the educators who took the time to come to the symposium in an effort to help children get the best education possible.

‘‘Everything you do, not just for military kids, but for all kids, is so important for this country,” Coffman said. ‘‘The group of people here have the most important mission in the United States today.”