Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/2868
Left: Sixth-grade teacher Nancy Barajas illustrates a point at Fairview Elementary School in Modesto. Right: Heritage High School economics and government teacher Spencer Smith. Anacapa Middle School in Ventura and member of the Ventura Classified Employ- ees Association (VCEA). Because her hus- band Josh is a security guard at Buena High School and also a VCEA member, it makes the impact for them a double whammy. “It’s hard for us to afford to live in our hometown because prices have become so high,” says Brock. “If we didn’t rent the house that we grew up in from my mother, I don’t know what we’d do. It’s really hard. The other day I went to a store to buy food, bought five things and it was $20. And I still needed money for the rest of the month.” worry about.” She stresses to them that they shouldn’t be worrying about the bills, they should be thinking about doing well in school and having fun being a kid. “But it’s hard to do that when the family is struggling,” Jackson continues. “When you are worried about the basics of surviv- ing — whether you will have something to eat tonight, whether the electricity will go on — it’s hard to focus on academics. We put them in a group to give them confi- dence and self-esteem. We let them know that even if their family is struggling, they are still a good kid, still worth something, and that we still want them very much to come to school.” The economic crisis has also hit educa- tion support professionals hard and could easily price some “out of existence,” com- ments Carol Brock, a library technician II at Members and students adapt In the Northern California, the com- munities of Oakley, Antioch and Brent- wood — where foreclosures have turned some neighborhoods into near ghost towns — lifestyles are changing for those who re- main, says Dave Behling, president of the Liberty Education Association. “You see more teachers riding their bi- cycles to school and a lot of students walk- ing, because of the cost of gas,” says the ca- reer technical education teacher at Freedom High School in Oakley. “Parents are picking up second jobs, and those second jobs are typically jobs that juniors and seniors in Suggestions that offer relief to those affected by the mortgage crisis: > A multilevel response from Congress, including improving regulation of mortgage lending practices to avoid a repetition of the crisis. > An emergency, one-time infusion of funds to the Emergency Food and Shelter program to prevent families facing foreclosure from becoming homeless, as proposed in the Emergency Housing Assistance Act of 2000. These funds would provide such assistance as mortgage/rent payments, utility payments, and other housing-related assistance to help prevent families from losing their homes. > An infusion of funds to school districts across the country through the McKinney-Ventro Homeless Education program that would help ensure that students who are forced to move from their homes do not have to leave their schools. The program allows homeless students to stay in their schools even if they are forced to move outside the district, and supplies them with tutoring, school supplies, counseling and other resources. From a First Focus study released in May 2008, “Th e Impact of the Mortgage Crisis on Children.” november 2008 | California Educator 11