Over the past decade, the number of homeless children in America has more than doubled. Educators, however, are still legally obligated to enroll and support them, because of the passage of the "No Child Left Behind" Act of 2001, which reauthorized the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Although schools cannot solve homelessness,…

The role and importance of education for homeless children and families particularly in New York City at the Homes for the Homeless organization are considered. The educational needs and role of parents are also explored. Education is a key component in the struggle against poverty, and parents need to embrace education both to move toward greater…

This report presents statistics on social and economic characteristics of the population below the poverty level in 1985 based on the March 1986 Current Population Survey (CPS). The data in the report consist of cross classifications of poverty status by such characteristics as age, race, sex, family relationship, educational attainment, work…

Equity does not require that everyone have the same amount of resources to satisfy basic needs, but it does require that each of us be able to live decently. The articles in this issue focus on poverty and its effects on children, particularly with respect to education and the ability to learn. The following articles are included: (1) "Poor Kids…

Efforts to prevent mental retardation have been encumbered by lack of scientific and technical knowledge, vague understanding of incidence and prevalence, and scarcity of resources to implement effective public policies. Scientific and social progress toward prevention has pursued a wavelike, erratic course, driven primarily by prevailing social,…

This bulletin presents two articles which challenge the current special education system, one in terms of the conceptualization of disability and the second in terms of differential and discriminatory treatment of poor and minority youth. The first article titled "New Trends in Disability Studies: Implications for Educational Policy" (Harlan Hahn)…

Part of a series from the Child Care Law Center, this issue of "Working for Change" discusses the need for quality, affordable child care as a support for working parents trying to break out of welfare dependency. This report details the current realities of poor parents who struggle to find and pay for child care while they work and…

This document examines strategies for preventing working families and disadvantaged youth from needing cash assistance and becoming dependent on welfare. The document begins with a brief discussion of the tenuous nature of the boundary between families who need public assistance and families who don't and factors contributing to welfare…

This report presents data from the complete 1985 panel file of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) on changes between 1985 and 1986 in the income and poverty status of persons. SIPP data make it possible to gauge movement along the whole income distribution and into and out of poverty for the same persons in two consecutive…

This document presents data on the demographic, social, and economic characteristics of the Hispanic origin population in the United States obtained through the March 1991 supplement to the Current Population Survey of the Bureau of the Census. Differences are highlighted in selected characteristics of Hispanic Americans compared between March…

This collection of essays discusses excellence and achievement in urban schools. "Needed: Excellent Teachers for Urban Schools" (Diane Ravitch) suggests that the best thing to do to help urban students is to ensure that they have excellent teachers. "Beyond the Courage to Change Urban School Systems" (Rudolph F. Crew) discusses…

This theme issue includes four articles on high performance by poor Texas schools. In "Principal of National Blue Ribbon School Says High Poverty Schools Can Excel" (interview with Robert Zarate by Christie L. Goodman), the principal of Mary Hull Elementary School (San Antonio, Texas) describes how the high-poverty, high-minority school…

This report outlines a K-12 social justice curriculum combining interdisciplinary instruction, guided and broadly-based research, and teamwork with teachers and students. Students also have opportunities to develop contacts with the media and other agencies at many levels outside the school, to research and support personal viewpoints, to study…

Many proposals for welfare reform center on the issue of marriage-based families versus single-parent families and oversimplify the relationship between single-parenting and poverty. Research done in upstate rural New York among low-income families showed that personal and economic characteristics of married and single mothers were similar as to…

This newsletter focuses on the educational rights of the homeless. It contains the following articles: (1) Homelessness: A Barrier to Education for Thousands of Children; (2) New Federal Act Protects Education Rights of Homeless Children; (3) Suggested Questions Regarding the Education Provisions of the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act; and (4)…