The Pentagon has commissioned RAND Corp to conduct a cost/benefits study of Defense Department elementary and secondary schools, according to a Dec. 3 Air Force release. The $905,000 study—slated for completion in mid-2014— will consider a variety of options ranging from keeping operations as they are to closing schools and transferring children to local district schools, states the release. “There are no pre-conceived outcomes for this study,” said Marilee Fitzgerald, DOD education activity director. “The input of commands, parents, teachers, students, and community members is essential and will be actively sought and taken into consideration.” RAND will review 60 schools at 15 North American military installations as part of the study, reported Stars and Stripes. All together, those schools educate 23,000 students at a cost of nearly $376 million per year, according to the article.
In the wake of a major Chinese military shakeup, the head of U.S. Space Command warned of China’s “breathtakingly fast” advances in space during visits to Japan and South Korea. Gen. Stephen N. Whiting’s trip to the Indo-Pacific is his first overseas visit since taking command of SPACECOM in January.