Dayana, a ninth grader, has moved multiple times since her family arrived in southern Rhode Island from Guatemala in 2019. Due to financial struggles, they currently rent a room in Newport. Under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, Dayana maintains her school despite these housing challenges, which has positively impacted her English learning. With approximately 1.4 million U.S. students facing homelessness, the act provides crucial protections and resources. However, concerns mount as the Trump administration might dismantle the Education Department, jeopardizing these protections and reverting to past hardships for homeless children.
Roughly 1.4 million U.S. pre-K-12 students experienced homelessness in the 2022-'23 school year, according to the latest federal data.
If they don't exist anymore, then that means we revert back to 30 years ago where children languished in shelters, couches, and cars.
Collection
[
|
...
]