Annapolis, Md. —- The wife of a Navy doctor, Leonor Chavez doesn't worry about her daughter having to change schools every few years. It's the paperwork that comes with the moves that daunts her.

"Every county's different. Every state's different. Every school's different," said Chavez, whose husband now works at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda. "Paperwork's what daunts me the most. She can adjust pretty quickly."

Legislation under consideration in Maryland and dozens of other states, including Georgia, is aimed at making transitions easier for military "brats," who change schools an average of six to nine times between kindergarten and 12th grade. A proposed multistate compact the Pentagon is pushing would make the transition easier for such kids, who sometimes are caught in conflicting requirements as they shuffle from school to school.

"The one thing we continuously forget to address is the sacrifices our children are forced to make," said Rear Adm. Len Hering, commander of the Navy's Southwest region.

Hering moved to San Diego from Annapolis as his middle son entered his senior year. The transition to California tested the whole family, Hering recalled.

Pentagon supporters of the bills say the multistate agreement would help not just kids but the armed forces as a whole. That's because difficulties uprooting children are cited as a major reason people leave active duty.

"Military families consider the quality of their children's education to be one of their primary quality-of-life concerns," said Leslye Arsht, the Pentagon's deputy undersecretary of defense for military community and family policy.

The compact, which would take effect after 10 states approve it, would direct participating states to cut red tape for all children of active-duty service members.

Educators are pushing for the compact, too. Though military dependents have always had to change schools frequently, the growth of state-specific exit exams and requirements makes transferring schools more difficult now.

"We have students from all different kinds of systems with all different kinds of requirements," said William Harrison, superintendent of schools in Cumberland County, N.C., home of Fort Bragg. About 13,000 students in Harrison's schools have parents on active duty, and Harrison said handling transfers is a major task.

Add to the red tape the special needs of students who may have a parent fighting overseas, and Harrison said a multistate compact would be a welcome change for overwhelmed parents and educators both.

"There are 50 sets of requirements out there, and every state thinks theirs are the highest and the best, and they need to acknowledge they need to work for people serving our country," Harrison said.

The compact proposal has gotten a largely positive reception in state legislatures, with at least 24 considering some version of the educational agreement. But obstacles remain for politicians worried about ceding state authority over educational requirements.

"They were concerned about some of the language in the compact, that it might be giving up some state sovereignty," said Virginia Delegate Mark Cole, a Navy veteran who sponsored the compact in that state. The Virginia House adopted the compact, but it failed in the Senate last week, at least for the year.

In Georgia, where the Senate has voted for the compact but the question is pending in the House, sponsoring Sen. Ed Harbison (D-Columbus) said lawmakers are persuaded to join the agreement when they learn about how tough military kids have it.

"It's a make-sense bill. It will bring some help to the problems the children of our heroes are facing," said Harbison, whose western Georgia district includes Fort Benning, with up to 10,000 military kids living in the region.

Some states aren't waiting for the compact and are also considering legislation to waive requirements unilaterally for military kids moving into the state. In Missouri, House members are considering a bill waiving for service members' children a requirement to take a test on the Missouri constitution.

"I have actually had probably 50 to 75 e-mails and phone calls from parents thanking us for doing this," said the sponsor of that bill, Missouri Rep. David Day.

Pentagon officials say bills making school moves easier are critical to national security.

"We have a national volunteer force, and families have to decide at each turn whether to stay in the service or not. And one of the deciders—- and surveys tell us it's a very high-priority decider —- is whether families are satisfied they have the kind of educational choices their children need to be successful," Arsht said.

PACT PROTECTIONS

> States would agree not to put military kids at a "disadvantage" because of scheduling or sequencing changes between states.

> Military kids would get temporary transcripts, and their new schools would be required to use the temporary transcripts for class placement until official records arrive.

> Military kids would get 30 days to get required immunizations in a new state.

> Transferring kids would be placed in the grades they were in when they moved.

> High school students who do not meet graduation requirements in a new state could be awarded diplomas from a state they lived in previously if they meet that state's requirements.

> Schools would honor membership in honor clubs.

> Students enrolled in gifted or special education classes would be enrolled in an analogous program in their new schools.

> Schools would give military kids "additional excused absences" to see a parent on leave from a deployment.

—- Associated Press