14 OCTOBER 31, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
City Hall must do more to curb the
high number of homeless students
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
identifi ed 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
eff ort to address the issue there
is this shocking statistic.The data shows
that the number of students identifi ed
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
EDITORIAL
percent of whom are black or Hispanic —
could fi ll 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
profi ciently, 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
high school.
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, off ering yellow bus service
the kindergarten through sixth grade
students living in shelter, increasing
pre-K enrollment among children living
in shelter, and providing aft er-school
reading programs at certain shelters.
More has to be done or the shame
will continue to haunt the de Blasio
administration.
THE HOT TOPIC
STORY:
These Queens neighborhoods were
among the most expensive in New York
City during the third quarter of 2019
SUMMARY:
Ten Queens neighborhoods made it on
the list of the top 50 most expensive
neighborhoods in New York City during
the third quarter, according to a
recent ranking from PropertyShark.
com.
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