Jobs for only 25% of teens: study, By Francine Knowles, May 2, 2011, Chicago Sun-Times: “As few as 25 percent of 16- to 19-year-olds are likely to be employed this summer, part of a decades-long trend of declines in teen summer employment, according to a report to be released today at the Chicago Urban League. By comparison, 45 percent of teens had summer employment in 2000, a study by Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market Studies found. The low employment rates will have negative repercussions on teens’ future employability, report co-author Andrew Sum warns. The report looked at teens ages 16 to 19…”
Daily Archives: May 2, 2011
Schools and Homeless Children
Homeless, but finding sanctuary at school, By Micael Winerip, May 1, 2011, New York Times: “The bus ride from the homeless shelter to Fern Creek Elementary School was, as usual, raucous. A hundred times, Doretha Brown, the bus driver, had to yell for everyone to sit down. ‘This noise is what holds us up every morning and evening!’ Ms. Brown shouted, although the Collins girls – Brianna, 8; Tamara, 7; and Sydney, 6 – could barely hear her above the din. A first grader and a second grader got into a fight on the 15-minute ride, and someone else threw up. Brianna, Tamara and Sydney paid no mind. As their father, James Collins, says, ‘To get by at a shelter, you have to focus yourself.’ This is the sisters’ second stay at a shelter, so they are becoming accustomed to being homeless. Roxanne Schreffler, a kindergarten teacher, was struck by Sydney’s arrival at Fern Creek in February. ‘She walked into kindergarten in the middle of the day and sat right down,’ Ms. Schreffler said. ‘She’d immediately adapted to her new situation. There was no time integrating her into the class; she was ready to go…’”