Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is asking the Pentagon’s senior leadership to examine “every report” of substandard school buildings attended by the children of US military personnel, and to develop blueprints for correcting whatever problems are confirmed.

“Where there are problems,” Panetta said in a statement, “I want a plan in place to correct them.”

An investigation posted June 27 by iWatchNews revealed an array of substandard conditions at many of the 353 schools for military children worldwide. Three in four Defense Department-run schools on military installations are either beyond repair or would require extensive renovation to meet minimum standards for safety, quality, accessibility and design, the iWatchNews probe found. Schools run by public-school systems on Army posts don’t fare much better: 39 percent fail to meet even the military’s own standards, according to a 2010 Army report. 

The Defense Department, Panetta said, “is strongly committed to ensuring that the children of military families receive an excellent education,” and “high quality facilities and instruction are essential … to providing the kind of education they deserve.” He added that the Pentagon “must be and will be fully committed to the troops, their families, and their children.”

There’s been a flurry of response from politicians to an iWatchNews investigation of often-deplorable conditions at schools on military installations. The probe revealed that many of the 353 base schools around the globe are falling apart from age and neglect, and fail to meet even the military’s minimum standards.

Two former Virginia governors locked in a heated Senate race — Democrat Timothy Kaine and Republican George Allen — issued a rare joint statement Wednesday regarding the problems identified by iWatch News. Their statement asked, "Don't we as a country have a responsibility to these brave men and women — and their families — to ensure their children are provided for as their parents fight for our country?" The pair went on to say that "The simple answer is 'Yes,' and neither of us sees this as a partisan issue — or will allow it to become one."  

There's been action on Capitol Hill as well. On July 12, Congressman Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) requested that the Government Accountability Office  launch an inquiry into the state of base schools, calling school conditions “a very serious issue which demands immediate attention.” Six days later, on July 18, a dozen senators from both parties urged Leon Panetta, the newly appointed defense secretary, to make the repair and replacement of substandard base schools a priority.

A bipartisan group of senators is urging the Defense Department to address “the state of disrepair” of many schools on military installations in the wake of a recent iWatch News investigation about the conditions at those schools and the effect on children who attend them.

An investigation published June 27 by iWatch News revealed an array of substandard conditions at many of the 353 schools for military children worldwide. Three in four Defense Department-run schools on military installations are either beyond repair or would require extensive renovation to meet minimum standards for safety, quality, accessibility and design. Schools run by public systems on Army posts don’t fare much better: 39 percent fail to meet even the military’s own standards, according to a 2010 Army report.

In a letter to newly appointed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, 12 senators — seven Democrats, four Republicans, and one Independent — cited the iWatch News story, and described the extent of decrepit and overcrowded base schools as “deeply concerning.” The letter called on Panetta to make the renovation and reconstruction of Pentagon-run schools a high priority in the defense budget.

“Our military children should have educational facilities that enhance their learning, not facilities that cause distractions from learning or present real or potential hazards,” stated the July 18 letter, which was organized by Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Richard Burr, R-N.C., who chair the Senate Military Family Caucus and whose districts include military base schools.

A top Pentagon official has acknowledged that the Defense Department is more than $1 billion short of what’s needed to repair decrepit public schools on military bases that were the subject of a recent iWatch News investigation.

The official, Jo Ann Rooney, principal deputy under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said in an interview with iWatch News that the Pentagon will be able to start renovating or replacing only about a dozen of the public schools on bases with the $250 million that Congress appropriated this year for the upgrades. A recent Pentagon report, however, found that about 62 of the 160 civilian-run schools are in “poor” or “failing” condition.

“There is a lot of work that needs to be done. Two hundred and fifty million dollars will not cover it,” Rooney said. “Depending on whether there is additional money coming forward, I can’t predict when those next group of schools would actually be addressed.”

An investigation by iWatchNews in June found that many of the schools attended by children of military personnel are in poor shape. Where military children go to school depends on circumstances often beyond families’ control. More than 500,000 children, the largest proportion, live off base, attending local schools in urban or suburban communities that often have significantly more resources.

But families who live on military installations — either for economic, career or security reasons — send their children to one of 194 base schools operated by the Pentagon around the world, or 160 base schools in the U.S. operated by local school districts.

The Defense Department formally released its report card today on the condition of public schools on military bases—and, as iWatch News reported—found that nearly 40 percent of the schools are in “poor" or "failing" condition.Here's the report card, DOD’s explanation of its rankings, and our latest story about the report card.

The House of Representatives has defeated an effort to cut funding for repairs to decrepit and overcrowded schools on military installations. The conditions at those schools — and their effects on the thousands of soldiers’ children attending them — were the subject of a recent investigation by iWatch News.

The effort to eliminate renovation and construction funds came in the form of an amendment filed by Rep. Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican. Flake’s amendment would have slashed the Pentagon’s “Operations and Maintenance” account in the fiscal year 2012 military spending bill by $250 million — thereby completely wiping out money appropriated for improvements at base schools run by local public-school systems. The proposed funding mirrors the $250 million set aside for substandard base schools operated by local districts this fiscal year, which Congress passed in April.

An investigation posted June 27 by iWatch News revealed an array of substandard conditions at many of the 353 schools for military children worldwide. Three in four Defense Department-run schools on military installations are either beyond repair or would require extensive renovation to meet minimum standards for safety, quality, accessibility and design, the iWatchNews probe found. Schools run by public systems on Army posts don’t fare much better: 39 percent fail to meet even the military’s own standards.