Economic Hard Times Hitting Schools and Students

This blog post was written by Beth Bissmeyer, a Berea College student and co-chair of the Madison County chapter.

There's an article in today's New York Times that discusses how schools and their students are being hit especially hard by the nation's economic downturn with mortgage foreclosures leading to an increase in the number of homeless families and budget cuts forcing schools to cut back on staff and services.

The problems in many districts can be traced to battered state budgets. According to a July report by the National Conference of State Legislatures, 31 states had budget gaps totaling $40 billion, and many had cut school financing.

The Jefferson County School system in Louisville is one of several examples focused on in the article. Sam Dillon, the article's author, writes,

Responding to a cut of $43 million by the state in education spending and to higher energy and other costs, school officials in Jefferson County have raised lunch prices, eliminated 17 buses by reorganizing routes, ordered drivers to turn off vehicles rather than letting them idle and increased property taxes.

And here are some more numbers from the article:

• 7,600 -- the number of homeless students enrolled in JCPS, as of June. That number is expected to increase.


• 10 -- the number of families evicted every day in Louisville, according to statistics from the Metropolitan Housing Coalition.


• 58,000 -- the number of students in Jefferson County eligible for free or reduced-price meals. This year, it's likely that number will reach 62,000, according to Mary R. Owens, coordinator of Jefferson County's free or reduced meal program.