Policy: Education

What We Know about Education

• Homeless students still face barriers to education, with transportation being the most common.
• Federal funding to school districts for homeless children’s education is inadequate. The national average of dollars allocated to school districts per homeless child served is $64. The range varies greatly, from $6 per homeless child in Louisiana to $304 in Rhode Island.

Federal law mandates that states provide children with a free, appropriate public education. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act requires that schools remove barriers to education for homeless children so that they may attend and succeed in school. Despite the growth in the number of homeless children, funds appropriated to implement the program never matched the funds authorized. Today, the economic downturn, especially housing foreclosures, has created unprecedented increases in family homelessness. To continue to shortchange the education of homeless children guarantees that many of today’s homeless children will become the heads of tomorrow’s homeless families.

In the 2005-2006 school year, school districts receiving McKinney-Vento subgrants reported numerous barriers, including eligibility for services, transportation, school selection, and immunizations. Of these, transportation was by far the most commonly reported barrier, with 78% of all subgrant districts reporting this as a significant barrier.

Barriers Reported by School Districts During the 2005-2006 School Year¹³⁷

Delaware, Oregon, and Wisconsin report few or no barriers to educating homeless children. Nearly 86% of subgrantees in Kentucky report that all seven barriers were problematic. Hawaii, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire also have a high percentage of subgrantees reporting the barriers listed above.

Despite the promise of McKinney-Vento, lack of federal funding impedes state efforts to ensure that all homeless children are identified and supported in enrolling, attending, and succeeding in school. The federal government provides states $58 million to support the education of children who are homeless. For each state, we converted their portion of this funding into a “per homeless child” figure based on the number of homeless children identified in each state. For example, Louisiana receives $6 per homeless child for education, while Rhode Island receives $304 per homeless child. Even if Louisiana is considered an outlier due to the large numbers of children who became homeless as a result of the 2005 Hurricanes, the next highest per homeless child funding is $16 per child in California. The national average is $64 per homeless child. These small dollar amounts pale in comparison to the needs of children who are homeless and trying to attend and succeed in school.

Although all states have revised residency and other legal barriers to the enrollment of homeless children, only one state – Illinois – provides dedicated funding to support the education of homeless children.¹³⁸ While several other states have received local requests to target state dollars towards education for homeless children, it is unlikely that these plans will come to fruition; approximately two-thirds of states are currently experiencing or projecting budget shortfalls in FY/2009.¹³⁹ This means that states rely exclusively on the insufficient amount of federal McKinney-Vento dollars in addition to homeless set-aside dollars from Title I Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, to assist homeless children in school.