Dayana said that stability has helped her learn English. “Because my English improved here. The teachers helped me a lot here.”
Approximately 1.4 million pre-K-12 students from the United States experienced the lack of housing in the 2022-23 school year, according to the latest federal data. The Educational Law defines homeless people as they lack a “fixed, regular and adequate night residence”, which includes duplicate life with others.
McKinney-twenty provides additional help, through legal protections and a federal subsidies program, to ensure that thesis students obtain education.
But while the Trump administration works to close the United States Department of Education, which supervises Mcinney-Sunto, defenders fear that the protections of the law can also be eliminated.
“And if they no longer existed, then they mean that we return to 30 years, where the children yearned for the shelters, yearned for sofas and cars, with respect to the fact that they were not really in school,” said the director of Fitive or the homeless young people of School.
The Trump administration has not said what it plans to do with McKinney Vento if it manages to close the Department of Education, and the department did not answer NPR questions about its plans for the Law and the Federal Subsido Progh.
This week, a group of Democrats from the House of Representatives and a pair of Republicans issued a letter urging their colleagues to support the law and increase federal investment in it.
Trump’s Budget proposal “Skinny” Run at the beginning of this month I would consolidate 18 federal education programs in a block subsidy, but does not name those programs. And the White House did not respond to NPR’s clarity request on White McKinney Vento was one of them.
If so, Duffield said: “He would effectively repeal the program in its entirety, eliminating the protections and dedicated financing [for students experiencing homelessness]. ”
An island oasis for families that experience the lack of housing
Last year, Congress booked $ 129 million for McKinney-Sunto subsidies to help schools cover the costs of supporting students who experience the lack of housing.
The Dayana School District, Middletown Public Schools, received $ 65,000 in McKinney-Bento funds.
Megan Mainzer is the McKinney-Vento link of the district, in charge of identifying students who experience the lack of housing and ensure of receiving the resources that are entitled under the law.
She said the McKinney-District’s money helps to pay transport, scholarships for care after school, hot spots, gas and groceries for families.
He has also helped Mainzer launch and the staff of a food pantry, in association with the local community center of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in Middletown High School, where Dayana attends.
It is called the island’s oasis.
The bright blue room next to the high school cafeteria has a freezer full of frozen meat and shellfish, a milk and eggs refrigerator, basic foods such as rice and beans, and many snacks.
“I felt that I cannot control housing problems, but I can control being able to help families compensate for their costs by helping them cover food bills so they can put more in the home,” said Mainzer.
It is a resource in which John and his 11 -year -old son trust. John asked NPR not to use his full name due to the stigma associated with the lack of housing.
He said he and his son have a leg living in motels in Middletown and Newport since the pipes exploded at home, making it uninhabitable. He has found an affordable place to be rented, and the pantry and the cards of the awarding store that he has recovered from Mainzer “have made a big difference,” he said.
“Because hotels are not cheap, so there is a lot of money there,” John said. “And I have a thing of pride, so I feel that I will not reach, but [Mainzer] reach[es] for me. ”
“Everything keeps me awake at night,” says an administrator
Mainzer is deeply concerned that the law and federal funds that support students such as Dayana and families like John are at risk. Losing McKinney-Sunto “would affect our ability to help families,” he said.
She is not the only one who is worried. The McKinney-Sunto links and defenders throughout the country are also anxious that if the Department of Education is eliminated, the law is terminated. Even if the law remains, they are concerned that federal funds can be reduced.
“It’s scary,” said Susie Terry, education services coordinator for homeless people for the San Diego County Education Office. The school districts in their county have identified more than 23,000 students who experience the lack of housing.
“All that keeps me awake at night. I think the dismantling of the [Education] The Yoo department the dismantling of the program, the financing of the program, is probably my greatest concern at this time, “he said.
Terry said that the districts that receive federal money use it to pay things such as transport and to compensate for the salaries of McKinney Vento links.
“And it’s not enough [money] In the long term, “he said, but money schools receive is crucial.
Jennifer Cress-SLIFE, the McKinney-Vento link for the Cedar Rapid Community School District in Iowa, said the law has made a big difference for its students.
“The students who see that they receive designations from homeless people are already the most vulnerable,” he said. His district has identified some 430 students who experience the lack of housing in this school year.
She said rights have the right they mean that they have easier access to education.
“And losing all that will make a big difference,” explains Cress-Slife. She does not care about all school districts would continue to provide thesis protections in the absence of a federal mandate.
Without the law and federal financing for this, “there would be high rates of students who fail,” said Sabra Emde, the McKinney-Vento link for Ardore City schools in southern Oklahoma. His district has identified 166 students who experience homeless people this year.
“There would be high rates or students who simply were not attending school,” Emde said.
Some scenarios for what comes after
Maura Mcinerney, Legal Director of the Center for Education Law, a non -profit defense organization in Pennsylvania, explains what is at stake if the Department of Education disappears:
“Dismantling the Department of Education means that we do not have people at the federal level that guarantees that children experience the lack of housing. [McKinney-Vento]. ”
If the department remains, but the financing of McKinney-Vento is grouped into a block subsidy, he said that school districts could spend that money on things that have nothing to do with serving homeless students.
“It would warm up with the requirements that meet the law, which follow McKinney-Vento, and used for children to experience the lack of housing,” Mcinerney explained.
Aaron Tang, Professor of Law at the University of California Davis, said he is more concerned that the Trump administration decides to unilaterally retain the funds of the McKinney-Vento subsidy of the states, which could be serious consequences.
“Every time it raises a barrier to finance a program, it increases the chances that the recipients of the programs, the people who are supposed to be treated, the children in this case, won the services they need.”
Meanwhile, the student of Ninth Grade Dayana and his family recently found permanent homes.
She said she is grateful for the support she received in Megan Mainzer’s last five years, her McKinney-Vento link. Mainzer helped her register at high school, connected it with colleagues who have since become close friends, tested clothes and delivered groceries to their home and coordinated transport to and from school.
Dayana said that the impact of these resources has changed the lives of students like her.
