Schools seeing homeless surge
The number of city students living in homelessness reached an all-time high for the school year that ended in June, a new report shows.
A record 114,659 students in temporary housing attended city schools in the 2017-18 year, up nearly 3% from 111,562 in the 2016-17 school year, according to data published Monday by the New York State Technical and Education Assistance Center for Homeless Students, a project of the nonprofit Advocates for Children of New York.
That's more than 10% of the roughly 1.1 million students enrolled in city schools.
That figure includes charter schools and is more than double the city's prerecession homeless student population of 50,926 for the 2007-08 school year.
Studies show students who experience homelessness at some point in their lives are less likely to meet grade-level standards for reading and math and to graduate from high school on time. They are also more likely to be absent from class and transfer schools.
Advocates for Children Executive Director Kim Sweet said that the city must do more to better serve homeless students.
“While the city works to address the overwhelming problem of homelessness, it must take bold action to ensure that students who are homeless get an excellent education and do not get stuck in a cycle of poverty,” Sweet said.
Sweet said that more than 100 city schools have at least 50 students living in shelters and no dedicated social workers to focus on their needs.
In addition, for the past three years, Mayor de Blasio has funded the social workers for only one year at a time instead of providing long-term funding for the positions, Sweet said.
“Given the persistent problem of student homelessness, the city must redouble its efforts, including providing longterm funding for social workers,” Sweet added.
The number of homeless kids in city classrooms has been growing every year.
An audit published by city Controller Scott Stringer in March focused on 33,000 students who were living in shelters for the school year that ended in June 2016.
His report, which excluded homeless kids who didn't live in shelters, found that only 15% of students living in shelters could do math at grade level in 2016, compared with 38% of students in permanent housing.
Education Department officials said the city first dedicated $10.3 million for homeless students in 2016, and increased spending on social workers and other services for homeless students to $13.9 million in 2017.
Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said the city is now investing $16 million in projects to aid homeless students each year, including $2 million in City Council funding.
“Meeting the needs of our students in temporary housing is deeply important to me,” Carranza said. “We will continue to expand and deepen our investments, and we will have more policy updates to share in the coming months.”