Under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary may authorize the enrollment in schools of the defense dependents’ education system on a tuition-free basis of the children of full-time, locally-hired employees of the Department of Defense in an overseas area if such employees are citizens or nationals of the United States.

The Secretary may use funds available for the defense dependents’ education system to provide for the education of children enrolled in the defense dependents’ education system under subsection (a) of this section.