New York City's more than 100,000 public school students are homeless, and the mayor-elect faces 'imminent crisis'

Source: China News Network

New York, Nov. 8 (China News Service) A report released by advocates for children, a nonprofit organization in New York, showed on the 8th that in the 2020-2021 school year, more than 100,000 public school students in New York City were homeless.

The report comes after analyzing statistics from the New York State Department of Education. In the last academic year affected by COVID-19, the report said, the majority of New York City public school students chose to attend classes remotely, including nearly 28,000 students living in shelters, about 65,000 students staying at friends' or relatives' homes, and 3,860 students living in cars, parks or abandoned buildings.

The report notes that the number of homeless public school students in New York City has increased by 42 percent over the past decade, a number that has remained high in recent years. The homeless student population, which already accounts for one-tenth of the number of students in New York City's public school system, faces enormous academic challenges and obstacles to success.

Kim Sweet, executive director of the Coalition of Children's Advocates, said no children should be reduced to homelessness, and Mayor-elect Adams and his team must meet the pressing daily educational needs of these students as they develop plans to address New York City's housing and homelessness crisis.

The coalition joins dozens of groups in calling for Adams to provide as much support to homeless students as possible when he takes office, including adding 150 shelter staff to help guide families through New York City's education system and establishing contingency plans to address the education of homeless students.

According to the New York Times, the report's main basis for confirming student homelessness is the inability to provide fixed addresses, and the fact that the number of homeless students in New York City may be higher than the numbers in the report, would be an "imminent crisis" facing Adams. At present, New York City public schools have resumed school attendance, and educators are facing many challenges as homeless students lag behind in distance learning in the previous school year.

Adams, a Democrat who won the mayoral election earlier this month, said in an interview program of NY1, a local Television station in New York, on the evening of the 8th, "We have to deal with all aspects of New York's problems, including education, housing, employment, etc." I will be down to earth. I have to fix them. (End)