trickle-down effects of economic stress, The

American Teacher, Oct/Nov 2009 by Licitra, Annette

School staff help families and students cope

PAULINE WILLIAMS, a high school chologist, knows firsthand the fallout the bad economy. Williams works in Waukegan, Ill., about 40 miles north of Chicago, where the last time she looked, well over of her school district's children were economically disadvantaged.

Driving this economic disaster is the rising rate of defaults on home mortgages. In May alone, Williams says, the banks back 127 homes in Waukegan.

"Just imagine what that's doing to our population," says Williams, vice president the Waukegan Psychologists Union, an AFT affiliate. She has seen a spike in student requests for mental health services. Drinking is up, as are teen pregnancies and homelessness. Since 2004, the city's homeless coordinator has seen the number of students living out of cars and motels double.

"Students are seeking anyone they're able to speak with," she says. "This is a vicious circle because there is an increased need for services, and services are being cut."

The damage

Estimates by the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth confirm that the number of schoolchildren in homeless families may have doubled in some school districts over the past two years. The group estimates that more than a million homeless preK-12 children were enrolled in public schools last year, a number that's expected to rise.

Rhode Island, like Illinois, is feeling the effects of a weak economy, with an unemployment rate of more than 12 percent. School nurse Alice Brady says even parents with jobs are afraid of losing them, and this anxiety is felt by children: "The economy is not letting anyone escape." Basic healthcare for some children also is slipping, says Brady, a member of the AFT Healthcare school nurse subcommittee. At her elementary school, a few families don't have the resources to cover required vision care for their children. Brady follows up with parents whose children failed the school vision screening to ask if they've made an appointment, and if not, she helps them line up Rhode Island Medicaid services or refers them to a community partner, the Lions Club, whose main service project is eye care.

In another sign of howhealmcare costs are devouring the economy, Brady says children who suffer an injury come to her first, with instructions from the parents to call them, saying that unless it's absolutely necessary, they can't afford to take their child to the doctor.

Of course, the conditions Williams and Brady describe are not limited to their parts of the country. The same circumstances are unfolding in California, Florida, Nevada and other states. These include:

* Increased transiency. In her 17th year at Brooklawn K-8 School in Cleveland, building rep Kami Vogler has never seen the kind of student mobility that started last year. Families are continually moving to keep a roof over their heads, says the science teacher, "and the kids are gone before we find out." Her own example: Vogler always has her homeroom students sign a poster promising to come visit after they've graduated from high school. Last year, she accumulated 39 signatures over the course of eighth grade, but by April had only 15 students left from the original group.

* A growing need for basic necessities, including school supplies and coats. Crystal Chase, a member of the Jefferson Federation of Teachers near New Orleans, reports that a quarter of her students last Year never did bring in supplies. She bought them herself.

* The absence of parents who usually show up to help but are "somewhat unavailable" right now, Williams says.

* Lack of focus and motivation as children's basic needs go unmet. It's harder to ask students to solve math problems, Williams notes, when their attitude is: "What's the use? We're not going to get jobs anyway."

* Less enrichment "Students are not getting what they need to prepare for high school because they are missing out on electives and sports in schools that are unable to provide extracurricular activities," says Vogler.

The response

School staffare trying to help children under stress keep learning and thriving. Ways to counteract the effects of the economy include more extensive use of fee waivers, reducedprice school meals and food pantries. Staff also need training in reporting child abuse.

Working with faith leaders and others in the community can help educators identify additional resources and services. "Every child you can pull up out of the bottom is a plus," says George Williams, president of the AFT-affiliated Madison County (FIa.) Education Association. "We can be hopeful. We have to be hopeful. Any innovation, any idea, where it helps one, where it helps two, we have to continue that struggle."

That's what happens at Alice Brady's school, where she is making the transition from longtime school nurse to school counselor this fall. Teachers often are the first to notice that something is awry with a child, Brady says. "As soon as the family is identified as having a need, we all - social workers, teachers, counselors, secretaries - we all rally around."