EDITORIAL
THE LARGEST BALL OF LINT!
Dryer Vent Wizard of Queens collected dryer lint from more than 9,000 communities across the country to
help set the Guinness World Record for the largest ball of lint last month.
READERS WRITE
Photo courtesy of Fishman Public Relations
Another tragic shooting in Queens
The tragic shooting of a 14-
year-old boy at a playground in
Jamaica is yet another urgent reason
for elected officials to push for
and pass legislation to outlaw the
sale of firearms to anyone who
does not agree to submit to a background
check when they are going
to purchase a gun.
There is absolutely no reason at
all for those people to be permitted
to buy a gun.
Also, there has been a marked
increase in street violence over the
last several years, and it is time for
more preventative measures to be
taken.
How many more innocent lives
— young and old — are going to be
taken because of this epidemic of
gun violence? What is it going to
take to get those elected officials
in Washington, D.C., to stand up to
the NRA and not let it control how
our legislators vote regarding further
restrictions on guns in this
country?
It is getting to be so that people
cannot go to the mall, to the movies,
to religious services, to sporting
events, or for children, teachers
and administrators to be afraid
to go to school, or even just to walk
down the street or go for a drive
without the fear of being shot.
God help our country, because
somebody has to!
John Amato
Fresh Meadows
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CITY HALL MUST
DO MORE
The number of homeless New York City students is
absolutely appalling and should bring shame upon the
de Blasio administration for doing next to nothing to
solve this crisis.
More than 114,000 youngsters were identified as
homeless during the 2018-19 school year, according to
state Education Department statistics studied by Advocates
for Children in New York City.
To show that there has been no concerted effort to
address the issue there is this shocking statistic.The
data shows that the number of students identified as
homeless has topped 100,000 for the fourth consecutive
years.
This includes public and charter school students and
the report further shows that the number has steadily
increased by more than 70 percent over the last decade.
“This problem is immense. The number of New York
City students who experienced homelessness last year
— 85 percent of whom are black or Hispanic — could fill
the Barclays Center six times,” Advocate for Children
Executive Director Kim Sweet said. “The city won’t be
able to break the cycle of homelessness until we address
the dismal educational outcomes for students who are
homeless.”
For these students, homelessness and educational
outcomes are inexorably tied. Fewer than a third of
New York City students who are homeless are reading
proficiently, rates that are 20 percentage points lower
than their permanently housed peers.
Only 57 percent of all New York City students who
are homeless graduate from high school and for those
living in shelters, the outcomes are even more stark —
fewer than half graduate from high school.
National research from Chapin Hall’s Voice for
Youth Count has shown that the lack of a high school
diploma is the single greatest risk factor for homelessness
among young adults, putting youth without a diploma
at 4.5 times the risk of experiencing homelessness
as adults compared to their peers who completed
City Hall has taken some positive steps including
placing 100 “Bridging the Gap” social workers and more
than 100 community coordinators in schools with high
numbers of students who are homeless, offering yellow
bus service the kindergarten through sixth grade
students living in shelter, increasing pre-K enrollment
among children living in shelter, and providing afterschool
reading programs at certain shelters.
More has to be done or the shame will continue to
haunt the de Blasio administration.
HOW TO REACH US
high school.
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TIMESLEDGER,16 NOV. 1-7, 2019 QNS.COM
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