ESSA Provides New Opportunities for Homeless Students
June 13, 2016
According to NPR, ESSA “includes both new mandates and some extra money to assist districts in helping homeless students.” The law allocates a 20-percent funding increase for services to homeless students, and strengthens reporting mandates to track academic progress. Because the new reporting requirements involve extensive outreach and communication with schools, it is expected that the reported number of homeless students will increase. An Education Week article cites the recent America’s Promise Alliance study, which notes that “the problems that lead homeless students to leave school—or have trouble re-enrolling after being gone for a while—are so deep and complex that they demand more than changes to federal law.”