Homelessness:
L.A. Schools Pull a Publicity Stunt

Sep 30, 2024

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) announced in late September that it had opened five new clothing stores offering students facing homelessness a chance to shop for new clothes and shoes, for free.

According to the superintendent of the LAUSD, the number of homeless students in L.A. schools has increased from 13,600 last year to 17,000 this year, which represents about three percent of the students enrolled in K-12. But the real number is certainly much higher. These official figures are based on the housing questionnaire that parents fill out at the beginning of the school year, but many parents don’t tell the truth about their housing situation, either out of shame, fear of deportation or because they are afraid the government would take away their children.

In addition, tens of thousands of working class families are forced to share living quarters with other families, because they can’t afford the outrageously high rent on even the smallest and most run-down apartments in L.A. They also tend to move frequently.

All the disruptions, overcrowding and constant noise that come out of this situation prevent students from studying or sleeping. Thus, tens of thousands of young people in L.A. can’t even get the bare minimum of an education. This is part of the reason for not only the high absentee rate in L.A. schools, but also the high drop-out rate.

The LAUSD’s big announcement about the five new stores offering free clothes was, of course, a publicity stunt. Yes, due to some temporary extra federal funds provided by the American Rescue Plan, along with donations by name brands like Levi’s, Van’s and Adidas, some homeless students will get to wear some decent clothes.

But how does donating a new pair of jeans correct the failure to address the educational and social needs of this skyrocketing influx of students living in dire poverty? It does not!

So, in Los Angeles, one of the richest and supposedly most modern cities in the world, there is growing homelessness, and growing illiteracy as well.