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HELP STOP PUBLIC SCHOOL SEGREGATION! |
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by National Coalition for the Homeless
Email: bduffield (nospam) nationalhomeless.org (unverified!)
Phone: 202-737-6444, ext. 18
Address: 1012 Fourteenth Street, NW - Suite 600 Washington, DC 20005-3405 |
16 Mar 2001
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Help Homeless Children and Youth Succeed in School
Urge Your U.S. Representative to Become a Co-Sponsor of H.R. 623 |
A C T I O N A L E R T
Help Homeless Children and Youth Succeed in School
Urge Your U.S. Representative to Become a Co-Sponsor of H.R. 623
February 15, 2001
BACKGROUND: On February 14, Congresswoman Judy Biggert (R-IL) introduced H.R. 623, \"The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Act of 2001.\" Original co-sponsors include Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-2nd/PA) and Doug Ose (R-3rd/CA).
H.R. 623 is based on the experience, insight, and knowledge of state and local homeless education programs. It represents the most comprehensive homeless education legislation to be introduced in Congress.
H.R. 623:
* Increases access to school
* Reduces school transfers and enhances educational stability
* Increases awareness of homeless children’s educational rights
* Strengthens parental choice
* Strengthens the educational rights of unaccompanied youth
* Strengthens state support to all school districts
* Promotes the integration of homeless children and youth into mainstream schools.
* Triples funding for Education for Homeless Children and Youth programs
ACTION: Now is the time to call or write to your U.S. Representatives to urge them to sign on as co-sponsor of H.R. 623 As many letters and phone calls as possible are needed.
Please ask your community to help write letters and make calls - volunteers, agencies, faith-based groups, teachers, and local coalitions. Every letter and phone call counts!
All U.S. Representatives can be reached through the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202.224.3121. A sample letter is attached.
For more information, please see the NCH web site at http://nch.ari.net/reauthnews.html, or contact Barbara Duffield at NCH at 202.737.6444, ext. 18, or email at nch (at) ari.net.
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**SAMPLE LETTERS TO LEGISLATORS ON
MCKINNEY-VENTO REAUTHORIZATION: H.R. 623
The Honorable Firstname Lastname
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Congressman Lastname:
I understand that there are efforts underway this year to legitimize school segregation through a \"grandfather\" provision that would allow existing separate schools to continue to receive federal funds. It is outrageous that such a provision was accepted and passed by the House of Representatives last year, in H.R. 2.
I urge you to fight any and all attempts to permit the school segregation of homeless children, including a grandfather provision. Separate schools exist today because of failure to comply with current McKinney Act requirements to remove barriers to school. To allow those schools that have patently violated homeless children’s educational and civil rights to continue to receive federal funds is to reward their non-compliance. It also condemns some children to suffer indefinitely from a policy that Congress has admitted is harmful. Such a provision can hardly be called a \"compromise.\"
Separating children from their peers because their families cannot afford housing is a devastating policy and practice. It increases the stigma associated with homelessness, causes unnecessary disruption in the lives of homeless children, and deprives homeless children of the full range of educational opportunities to which they are entitled. It is a policy born of ignorance, bigotry, and prejudice, and is totally unacceptable.
I urge you not to yield to the classism and racism of those who support the school segregation of homeless children.
Thank you for your attention to this critical issue.
============================
The Honorable Firstname Lastname
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Senator Lastname:
I understand that the legislation soon to be considered by the U.S. Senate, the \"Better Education for Students and Teachers Act,\" explicitly prohibits separate schools or classrooms for homeless children. I applaud this provision, and urge you to support it.
However, I also understand that there are efforts underway this year to legitimize school segregation through amendments on the Senate floor.
I urge you to fight any and all attempts to permit the school segregation of homeless children, including provisions that would allow existing separate schools to continue to receive federal funding. Separate schools exist today because of failure to comply with current McKinney Act requirements to remove barriers to school. To allow those schools that have patently violated homeless children’s educational and civil rights to continue to receive federal funds is to reward their non-compliance. It is also condemns some children to suffer indefinitely from a policy that Congress has admitted is harmful.
Separating children from their peers because their families cannot afford housing is a devastating policy and practice. It increases the stigma associated with homelessness, causes unnecessary disruption in the lives of homeless children, and deprives homeless children of the full range of educational opportunities to which they are entitled. It is a policy born of ignorance, bigotry, and prejudice, and is totally unacceptable.
I urge you not to yield to the classism and racism of those who support the school segregation of homeless children.
Thank you for your attention to this critical issue.
**Please personalize these letters with your own experiences, thoughts, and feelings.
*******************************************************************
School Segregation and Homeless Children and Youth: An Overview
This overview summarizes available information on integrated homeless education programs (those programs that help homeless children enroll, attend, and succeed in mainstream schools) and segregated classrooms or schools (those that separate homeless children from housed children on the basis of their homelessness alone).
The Law: Homeless children and youth have a federal right to a free, appropriate public education. The Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act requires states to identify and remove barriers to homeless children\'s education, such as residency requirements, school records requirements, delays in transfer of school records, and lack of transportation. The Act also prohibits the separation of homeless children from the mainstream school environment based on their homeless status, and requires states to ensure that homeless children are not isolated or stigmatized.
Current Status: Since the passage of the McKinney Act in 1987, thousands of schools across the country have eliminated barriers to homeless children\'s education, and have successfully supported homeless children\'s enrollment, attendance, and success in mainstream schools. Continuing barriers to homeless children\'s mainstream school education, however, have resulted in many homeless children being relegated to classrooms in shelters, or other \"homeless-only\" facilities.
Comparison of Integrated and Segregated Education Programs:
* Quality of Education: Mainstream schools provide better educational opportunities. Many \"homeless-only\" programs do not follow standard curricula, do not employ licensed teachers, and do not provide the full range of educational programs to which homeless children are entitled.
* Socialization: Schools not only educate children, but also provide them with important social skills. Mainstream schools accomplish this by providing a diverse social environment, and a wide range of extra-curricular activities and events that are a key part of healthy development (such as sports, music, associations, proms, and graduations). \"Homeless-only\" classrooms or schools do not provide such opportunities, and therefore deprive homeless children of key aspects of a \"normal\" childhood.
* Removal of Barriers: Integrated homeless education programs have successfully removed barriers to homeless children\'s education. Segregated schools or classrooms acquiese to and perpetuate barriers that prevent homeless children from enrolling and attending mainstream schools.
* Stability: Most children attend mainstream schools prior to becoming homeless. Staying in the same school that they were attending before they became homeless promotes stability and educational continuity -- significant factors in academic achievement. It also allows children to keep the same friends, daily routine, etc., and thus limits the social and emotional disruption caused by homelessness. Attending \"homeless-only\" classrooms or schools adds one more unnecessary disruption to homeless children\'s lives.
* School Choice: Homeless children have a right to attend either the school they were going to before they become homeless, or the school in the area where they are currently living, depending on which school is determined to be in the best interest of the child. Parents whose children attend school in \"homeless-only\" facilities, however, are usually automatically referred by service providers or other schools, and are therefore rarely provided with a real choice about what school is in their children\'s best interest.
* Outreach and Identification: Mainstream schools are in the best position to identify and serve all homeless children, regardless of where they live. Segregated schools or classrooms cannot identify and serve all homeless children in the community because such schools enroll only children living in shelters or other easily identifiable locations.
* Support Services: Mainstream schools can provide a comprehensive array of support services with discretion and dignity, such as food, clothing, and health care. The majority of \"homeless-only\" schools do not have a wide range of resources at their disposal.
* Stigma: Some programs justify segregating homeless children and youth in order to protect children from ridicule. However, being identified with a \"homeless only\" school may exacerbate the stigma associated with homelessness. Integrated homeless education programs address stigma by ensuring that homeless children have the same supplies, clothing, and materials as non-homeless children, allowing them to \"fit in\" with their housed peers.
* Racial and Economic Integration: Mainstream schools are more likely to be integrated racially and economically. As a consequence of the demographics of poverty in the United States, schools that enroll only homeless children not only segregate children by economic and housing status, they are also likely to be segregating children by race or ethnicity.
* Safety: Some programs justify segregating homeless children and youth in order to protect children and their families who are fleeing domestic violence. However, it is not necessary to segregate homeless children in order to protect them. Schools are responsible for the safety of all children, including those who are victims of domestic violence, regardless of their housing status. Mainstream schools can respond to safety concerns by training school staff on confidentiality laws and policies, helping families to file copies of protective orders with schools, and taking the necessary practical steps to ensure anonymity and safety of children.
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MCKINNEY HOMELESS ASSISTANCE ACT
Language in current law regarding segregation
SEC. 721. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the Congress that –
(3) homelessness alone should not be sufficient reason to separate students from the mainstream school environment; and
SEC. 722. GRANTS FOR STATE AND LOCAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE EDUCATION OF HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTH.
(g) State Plan. –
(1) In general. – Each State shall submit to the Secretary a plan to provide for the education of homeless children and youth within the State, which plan shall describe how such children and youth are or will be given the opportunity to meet the same challenging State student performance standards all students are expected to meet, shall describe the procedures the State educational agency will use to identify such children and youth in the State and to assess their special needs, and shall –
(H) contain an assurance that the State educational agency and local educational agencies in the State will adopt policies and practices to ensure that homeless children and youth are not isolated or stigmatized.
(3) (3) Local educational agency requirements –
(A) The local educational agency of each homeless child and youth to be assisted under this subtitle shall, according to the child\'s or youth\'s best interest, either--
(i) continue the child\'s or youth\'s education in the school of origin--
(I) for the remainder of the academic year; or
(II) in any case in which a family becomes homeless between academic
years, for the following academic year; or
(ii) enroll the child or youth in any school that nonhomeless students who live in the attendance area in which the child or youth is actually living are eligible to attend.
(8) Review and revisions.--Each State educational agency and local educational agency that receives assistance under this subtitle shall review and revise any policies that may act as barriers to the enrollment of homeless children and youth in schools selected in accordance with paragraph (3). In reviewing and revising such policies, consideration shall be given to issues concerning transportation, immunization, residency, birth certificates, school records, and other documentation, and guardianship. Special attention shall be given to ensuring the enrollment and attendance of homeless children and youth who are not currently attending school.
SEC. 723. LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY GRANTS FOR THE EDUCATION OF HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTH.
(a) General Authority. –
(2) Services. – Unless otherwise specified, services under paragraph (1) may be provided through programs on school grounds or at other facilities. Where such services are provided through programs to homeless students on school grounds, schools may provide services to other children and youth who are determined by the local educational agency to be at risk of failing in, or dropping out of, schools, in the same setting or classroom. To the maximum extent practicable, such services shall be provided through existing programs and mechanisms that integrate homeless individuals with nonhomeless individuals.
(3) Requirement.--Services provided under this section shall not replace the regular academic program and shall be designed to expand upon or improve services provided as part of the school\'s regular academic program.
RATIONALE FOR EXPLICIT PROHIBITION ON SEGREGATION.
Despite the provisions listed above, some districts continue to segregate homeless children and youth -- most often in response to the failure to remove barriers to enrollment and attendance. These districts argue that current law does not \"prohibit\" segregation, and thus they provide funding for schools or classrooms that separate homeless children from their peers soley on the basis of their poverty and housing status.
Congress has enacted policies that call for desegregation and mainstreaming of children by race and disability status because such segregation denies children equal educational opportunities. These same principles apply to the education of homeless children and youth. To do any less would be to not hold schools accountable for the education of all children.
***********************************************
SAMPLE LETTER
The Honorable George Miller
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Congressman Miller:
Recently, the issue of school segregation of homeless children has been brought to my attention. I understand that the legislation you introduced in early February, H.R. 340, explicitly prohibits separate schools or classrooms for homeless children. I applaud this provision, and thank you for your leadership on this issue.
However, I also understand that there are efforts underway this year to legitimize school segregation through a \"grandfather\" provision that would allow existing separate schools to continue to receive federal funds. It is outrageous that such a provision was accepted and passed by the House of Representatives last year, in H.R. 2.
I urge you to fight any and all attempts to permit the school segregation of homeless children, including a grandfather provision. Separate schools exist today because of failure to comply with current McKinney Act requirements to remove barriers to school. To allow those schools that have patently violated homeless children’s educational and civil rights to continue to receive federal funds is to reward their non-compliance. It is also condemns some children to suffer indefinitely from a policy that Congress has admitted is harmful. Such a provision can hardly be called a \"compromise.\"
Separating children from their peers because their families cannot afford housing is a devastating policy and practice. It increases the stigma associated with homelessness, causes unnecessary disruption in the lives of homeless children, and deprives homeless children of the full range of educational opportunities to which they are entitled. It is a policy born of ignorance, bigotry, and prejudice, and is totally unacceptable.
I urge you not to yield to the classism and racism of those who support the school segregation of homeless children.
Thank you for your attention to this critical issue.
--
Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco
468 Turk Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
415/346.3740-voice • 415/7755639-fax
coh (at) sf-homeless-coalition.org
http://www.sf-homeless-coalition.org
--
National Coalition for the Homeless
1012 Fourteenth Street, NW
Suite 600
Washington, DC 20005-3405
Phone: 202-737-6444, ext. 18
Fax: 202-737-6445
Email: bduffield (at) nationalhomeless.org
Web: http://www.nationalhomeless.org
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See also:
http://www.nationalhomeless.org
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