Public schools use issues such as lack of transportation, program overcrowding and homeless families' frequent moves from one district to another to help justify the admission difficulties homeless children face. Moreover, homeless parents are often unaware of the rights the 1987 McKinney Homeless Assistance Act guarantees their children. The act provides states with funding to help reduce the barriers between homeless children and the public school systems. Lack of government involvement has allowed these barriers to form.
Homeless citizens have virtually no political power - without a residence, they are not able to vote or effect public policy. Consequently, legislators tend to make the homeless a low priority - choosing instead to tackle issues more important to their voting constituents. Government officials need take special notice of homeless citizens' rights - it is the government's duty to look out for the best interest of all citizens, especially those in a disadvantaged situation.
The government should think of the future as well as the present. In denying education to homeless preschoolers, they could worsen problems further down the road.
These preschoolers may discover later in their educational careers that they fall behind their more fortunate classmates who received public primary school education. Discouraged students may drop out of school in favor of the work force - where minimum-wage jobs available to those without a high school diploma will beckon.
If they are unable to support themselves on such meager salaries, they may require welfare from the state. Thus, individuals who were once denied enrollment in public schools will continue in the cycle of poverty, relying on public-assistance programs and fighting to provide for themselves and for their families. Interrupting the cycle at any point along the way will prevent continuation and provide a way out.
According to the study of homeless children, in 1987 the federal government granted $50 million for distribution throughout the states to offset the costs of special arrangements for enrolling homeless children in public schools. The states spent only $7 million toward this goal, because schools claimed they did not know how to use it.
Homeless parents may be hesitant to speak up for themselves and their children; possible lack of education concerning their rights combined with embarrassment is a powerful silencer. Homeless children need an advocate, whether it is the state or the schools.
Legislators and school administrators should not allow this issue to slip through the cracks any longer. The study's results have called this problem to the nation's attention - homeless children's rights must not be ignored.