Back to School

When I was a kid, I hated this time of year. The days seemed a little shorter and the autumn chill crept in little by little when the sun went down. It was a reminder that summer was nearing its end and school was hovering about in the not so distant future. Like most kids, I felt about as happy about going to school as I did about going to the dentist (disclaimer: my hometown dentist was not nearly as capable and pleasant as the dentists here in the Valley).

As I aged and matured and moved on from Def Leppard and Whitesnake to Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, I began to realize that school was not the internment camp I made it out to be. Sure, it was rigid and structured and really disrupted my sleeping schedule, but it was important in other areas. Even at its worst it was a means to an end. If I actually buckled down, I could catapult myself into the lofty realms of community college and then the unthinkable...

I was the first member of my family to graduate from college and I will be the first person to admit that a college education is not the only way to gainful, lucrative, and fulfilling employment. It's merely one way, but its a way that many of Montana's children will not have access to because they never even make it to the conclusion of high school. Homeless Children in America reports,

"The difference in lifetime earnings between those with a high school degree and those without is, on average, approximately$200,000. Researchers have calculated the additional costs of education necessary to achieve higher high school graduation ratesand the increases in amounts paid back to society in the form of taxes and the like. 

The results suggest that net lifetime increasedcontributions to society associated with high school graduation are about $127,000 per student. If we assume on the basis of their test scores a high school graduation rate of less than 25%, then the 431 homeless high school students in Montana, as a group, will lose $65 million in lifetime earnings and society will lose $41 million in potential contributions from them" 

Here are some common obstacles that prevent children in Montana from staying in school because they lack some, or all of these basic resources. So please, as the summer draws to a close and your children prepare to head back to classroom, please remember there are many kids who will not have this opportunity and the effects on their life can be staggering unless things change.

Reported Barriers to Enrollment
1. Eligibility for Homeless Services
2. Immunizations
3. Other Medical Records
4. Other Barriers
5. School Selection
6. School Records
7. Transportation

These are things we often take for granted because they are accessible for us, but these simple procedures and matters of logistics can prove to be quite unattainable for homeless children in Montana.