Washington state now has 1,397 more homeless students bringing the total to 27,390.
Those numbers come from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), who says homeless students increased by 5.1% increase compared to the 2010-11 school year.
Why the increase? Job loss, unforeseen illness, increased housing prices and foreclosures.
Here’s an excerpt from the OSPI news release:
Districts cite many reasons for the increase. The overall job market is still struggling, in addition to local economic factors, such as the closing of a paper mill in Everett and the decline of the logging industry in Shelton and elsewhere. More students are living on their own. And funding for services that help prevent homelessness is being cut.
In the proposed Fund Education First plan, how much funding would go towards:
- Job creation and worker retraining: $0
- Health care for low and middle-income families: $0
- Housing assistance: $0
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