Sunday, January 31, 2010

Have you thought about the nightmare for homeless schoolkids zapped by the economic meltdown? Joe Sestak has

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"We must do everything we can to ensure that we do not break the American Dream for hundreds of thousands of homeless youth who are the unfortunate victims of the economic crisis. One of the most unfortunate consequences of our current economic downturn and foreclosure crisis has forced more of our people out of their homes, particularly an alarming increase in children. If we as a nation allow hundreds of thousands of children to slip through the cracks, they will continue to suffer from homelessness through no fault of their own."
-- Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Sestak, in a Senate
campaign position "e-paper" sent out yesterday

by Ken

Back on Martin Luther King Day, I mentioned in a post the steady stream of e-mails I receive from PA Rep. Joe Sestak's Democratic primary campaign against incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter, the now-and-then Democrat. I tried to point out two things: (1) that the campaign has for months now been putting out a voluminous quantity of substantive "e-papers" on a wide range of subjects generally unrelated to the hot-button issues that seem to be all we ever hear about, and (2) despite our ritual claim to want more substance in political campaigns, we hardly ever pay any attention to campaigns that try to do it.

I made clear that I consider myself as guilty, or almost as guilty (at least I raised the question) as anybody. I barely glance at these e-mails, even though they seem to be solidly based, addressing real-world issues with attempts at real-world solutions. When I noticed yesterday that my e-mailbox had a new e-mail from the campaign -- on a Saturday! -- I determined that this time I would read the damned thing. In case maybe you would like to read it too, here it is:
Joe Sestak Joins Effort to Help Homeless Youth
Numbers of homeless youth in public schools is nearing one million as a result of current economic crisis

MEDIA, PA - In response to staggering new statistics reflecting the growing population of homeless youth in school districts across the country, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Congressman Joe Sestak announced plans to join his Education and Labor Committee colleague, Congresswoman Judy Biggert of Illinois, in introducing legislation to ensure access to education for youth effected by homelessness.

The number of homeless children in our nation's public schools is growing at an alarming rate. In 2007-08, the number was 794,617, an increase of 17 percent from the previous school year. All evidence shows that this number is continuing to increase. The legislation would act as a companion to S. 2800, a bill introduced in the Senate by Patty Murray of Washington and Al Franken of Minnesota, that expands upon and strengthens the provisions of the McKinney-Vento Education for Homeless Children and Youth program (EHCY).

"We must do everything we can to ensure that we do not break the American Dream for hundreds of thousands of homeless youth who are the unfortunate victims of the economic crisis," Joe said. "One of the most unfortunate consequences of our current economic downturn and foreclosure crisis has forced more of our people out of their homes, particularly an alarming increase in children. If we as a nation allow hundreds of thousands of children to slip through the cracks, they will continue to suffer from homelessness through no fault of their own."

Homelessness subjects children to instability and trauma that makes it difficult to achieve academically in the best of circumstances. The chances of academic success are further decreased if the student is forced to move schools as a result of homelessness. Research has shown that homeless children and youth are more likely to suffer from health and/or mental health problems, developmental issues and subpar academic performance.

The bill aims to make the public school system a source of stability for children experiencing homelessness by addressing shortcomings in our current federal laws, which make educational success difficult for homeless youth due to issues of legal guardianship, residency, record keeping and lack of transportation. By ensuring that homeless children have access to the academic resources they will need to avoid poverty and homelessness as adults, the legislation aims to stem the tide of generational homelessness.

Specifically, the bill:

* Strengthens the academic support programs for homeless students within schools by providing additional funding for professional liaisons for homeless youth within school districts and expanding access to summer school programs and early childhood education.
* Additionally, the bill takes steps to keep homeless students in their original schools by increasing the authorized funding level to help assist with the costs of transportation and provide resources to speed up the enrollment of homeless students who may not have access to the necessary paperwork.
* Importantly, the legislation focuses on outreach and identification for homeless students by requiring wider dissemination of information relating to homelessness and the services available to homeless students and families.

"A recent report from the U.S. Conference of Mayors stated that family homelessness in Philadelphia rose 4 percent in 2009, a figure which likely underestimates the true effects of the current economic crisis," Joe said. "Failing to address this reality risks the future success of our nation by depriving more children of the educational opportunity they need to succeed."

I don't know about you, but I haven't given a lot of thought to the problem of homeless schoolchildren as exacerbated by the economic meltdown. It appears that Joe Sestak has. Of course he's a member of the House of Representatives, so this is just the sort of thing he ought to be concerning himself with. I don't know that this means he deserves to be a U.S. senator (although it didn't take much to persuade me that he would represent a decisive upgrade over the incumbent), but it does seem to me a better qualification than I'm aware of from an awful lot of people currently occupying seats in that august chamber.

I'm just saying.
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7 Comments:

At 8:03 PM, Blogger Carter said...

I live in Pennsylvania & Sestak's progressive positions have been a pleasant surprise. Spector has several million more dollars & the party structure support, courtesy of Obama's support. But Sestek is a fighter. If Spector wins the primary, he'll lose to RWer Toomey in the general. If Spector should somehow win the general, expect him to revert to the bipartisan mush that is his trademark, ie. not too hot, not too cold, just right.

 
At 5:39 AM, Blogger cybermome said...

Ken,

I am going to see him tonight.He's speaking at the local VFW..

I worked as a volunteer on his first Congressional race. One day at the office I heard him screaming into the phone "I'll run this race any fucking way I want" I'm pretty sure the person at the other end of the phone was R Emmanual who at the time was telling ALL the Congressional candidates running here in Montgomery County NOT to mention Iraq. You see how that advice worked for Lois Murphy (she lost) He's now my daughters Congressmen at her college (Swarthmore)
I ran into last Spring there when the college hosted a forum on single payer.
He took a lot of heat about his HC position but I've seen him move to be more in line w/his constituents.I've seen him go into the lions den more than once and I like that.
Specter-yuck I'm really involved in local politics, always work the polls and have already told everyone here I won't hand out 1 piece of anything w/Specters name on it. I'm not the only one although the pimple on the ass of progress that runs the Dem party here in Montgomery county is already supporting him.

 
At 1:56 PM, Blogger KenInNY said...

All very interesting, Lee. I'll be curious to have your impressions of tonight's appearance.

As I suggested, it wouldn't take much to be an improvement over the loathsome Senator Specter. But I'm getting a feeling from Sestak of a person of genuine substance, which isn't something we encounter a lot in his present profession.

Ken

 
At 5:17 PM, Blogger Diane Nilan said...

I spend lots of time in PA, talking with homeless kids and those who serve them. It is a huge problem, not just in PA, but across the land. And it's refreshing that Rep. Sestak has joined with my congresswoman, Judy Biggert (R-13) to move this bill forward.

I get to hear directly from kids across the country about how important education is to them. You'd be amazed. Check out www.hearus.us to get an idea.

Thanks Congressman Sestak!

 
At 5:50 PM, Blogger KenInNY said...

Thanks, Diane, and thanks for your good work and the link.

I'm sure homeless schoolchildren was already a horrendous problem before the economic meltdown. Now I shudder to think of it. And the well-being of our children is everyone's problem, folks.

Ken

 
At 5:50 PM, Blogger KenInNY said...

Confidential to HATTIE:

Apologies if your comment was legitimate, but since it had nothing to say about the topic at hand (or any other, actually, or even this blog in particular), and it contained a commercial link, we have to treat it like spam (meaning ZAP!).

If you do actually read Down With Tyranny and get something out of it, we look forward to your leaving an actual comment.

Ken

 
At 10:32 PM, Anonymous donate car said...

The rising number of homeless children is alarming. I hope that the authorities could do something about this.

 

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