By Evie Blad
There were a record 1,258,182 homeless students enrolled in American public schools during the 2012-13 school year, a nearly 8 percent increase from the previous year’s levels, new U.S. Department of Education data released this week show.
Homelessness in schools has increased dramatically in recent years, children’s advocacy organization First Focus Campaign for Children noted in a news release.
“The new data means that a record number of kids in our schools and communities are spending restless nights in bed-bug infested motels and falling more behind in school by the day because they’re too tired and hungry to concentrate,” First Focus President Bruce Lesley said in a statement.