Student homelessness and the White House
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Insideschools is one of many projects housed at Advocates for Children of New York. Jared Stein is our colleague at NYS-TEACHS, which strives to ensure that the educational rights of homeless children are both recognized and implemented in New York State.
HearUS posted a link to an electronic petition requesting that President Obama meet with a determined 14-year- old who is completing an 1,100 mile walk to raise awareness about child/youth homelessness. HearUs writes:
“14-year-old David Ashby has walked 700 of 1,100 miles to meet President Obama to urge more national efforts to help homeless kids.
We need petitioners to get the President’s attention.
It won’t hurt if David’s amazing effort inspires people to do something local to help homeless kids.”
Having spent several years working on issues related to the education of homeless and highly-mobile youth, I think efforts such as David Ashby’s undertaking are both commendable and necessary. Housing instability, when not recognized by school officials, often leads to missed academic days and/or needless school transfers. These disruptions are socially, emotionally, and academically harmful to students and, more generally, to our society which ultimately inherits the under-educated.
Numerous schools and districts, including the New York City Department of Education, have made great progress toward supporting this vulnerable population. Nonetheless, too many are simply unfamiliar with the needs and rights of such students and, as a result, the cycle of poverty and disruption is needlessly perpetuated.
Those who would like to help David reach his goal can sign the petition. To learn more about homeless education, contact The New York State Technical and Education Assistance Center for Homeless Students (NYS-TEACHS), 800-388-2014, which is funded by the New York State Education Department.
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