OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — More than 21,000 homeless students go to school in Washington state.
They are among about 1.3 million homeless children nationwide.
The office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction says the population of homeless students in Washington during the past school year was 5 percent higher than the previous year.
The program supervisor for the education of homeless children and youth at OSPI says the biggest change is probably awareness. Five years ago, when the number was half as large, many districts didn’t know they were required to report on homeless children to the federal government.
Melinda Dyer says the economy is also making it harder for families. She suspects the number is actually low, because most families don’t want to tell people they don’t have a place to live.
