Right-wing media blitz against AOC

Right-wing media outlets are at it again. Whenever AOC speaks about systematic injustice, they ramp up their efforts to silence her. But this time, their outrage is truly absurd.

On a recent livestream, AOC talked about the connection between poverty and crime – a fact that any expert on the subject would agree with. But right wing pundits lost it, accusing her of making excuses for violent crime.

Their motivation is transparent. They couldn’t defeat AOC by donating to a corporate primary challenger, so now they’re trying to bully our movement into silence. We won’t let that happen. Will you donate to help us fight back against these right-wing attacks?

A $6 billion budget for the NYPD has done nothing to stop the spike in crime that we’ve seen in NYC. Meanwhile, countless folks from across the city still haven’t received their economic stimulus checks. Tens of thousands of New Yorkers are facing eviction. One in six children in NYC public schools is homeless.

Those are the facts. Crime is a symptom of a society that neglects its most marginalized people, and alleviating that problem requires the passage of critical progressive policies that AOC has fought for since day one. But that reality runs counter to the narrative of too many right-wing politicians who just want to increase police funding and decrease accountability.

So they’re doing everything they can to delegitimize us and shut out our message. Help us fight back by donating $15 to bolster this movement right now.

Thanks for your support,

Team AOC

Paid for by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Congress

 To contribute via check, please address to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for Congress, PO Box 680080, Corona, NY 11368.

Email us: us@ocasiocortez.com

Homeless US student population 'highest in more than a decade'

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Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption Schoolchildren aged 10-11 and 16-17 are the most likely to become homeless in the US

The number of homeless students in the US is the highest in more than a decade according to a new study.

Most of the 1.5m homeless children stayed with other families or friends after losing their homes.

But 7% lived in abandoned buildings or cars, the report by the National Centre for Homeless Education showed.

Homelessness is often caused by job insecurity, unaffordable housing, domestic violence and recently the opioid crisis.

Living without a fixed address has a serious impact on children's education and health.

Less than a third of homeless students were able to read adequately, and they scored even lower in mathematics and science, the report showed.

"Homeless children are in crisis mode, and because they don't have the luxury of focusing on school, they often fall behind," Amanda Clifford, of the National Youth Forum on Homelessness (NYFH), told the BBC.

The most recent data was recorded in 2017-18 and was more than double the nearly 680,000 homeless students reported in 2004-05, the director of National Centre for Homeless Education told the New York Times.

The research measures the number of children in schools who report being homeless at some point during an academic year. As such, it does not show the total population of homeless young people in the US.

Why is student homelessness increasing?

Homelessness is a growing problem in the US, usually linked to the national housing crisis.

Millions of people spend more than half their income on housing, and many report they cannot afford to buy a house.

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Increasing rents and a housing shortage has forced thousands of people in California to live in caravans or inadequate housing.

A changing economy, with factories closing down or the rise of the insecure gig economy, also leaves parents unable to pay rent.

The opioid crisis, in which almost two million people are addicted to prescription drugs, is also causing some families to break up or children to be removed from their homes.

A disproportionate number of homeless youth are LGBT, according to University of California Williams Institute.

Nearly seven in 10 said that family rejection was a major cause of becoming homeless, and abuse at home was another major reason.

What are the solutions?

Most experts say the solution lies in providing more housing at affordable rates, as well as providing support to families who may be affected by trauma or addiction.

"Addressing the immediate needs of families is important - providing housing and the next month's rent. But beyond that, people need to be supported after their crisis has ended," Ms Clifford, of the NYFH, said.

For example, that could include paying for car repairs, so a parent can ensure they can travel to work.

Tracking how children are performing at school over a longer period of time is also important, Ms Clifford says, because the impact of homelessness can continue even if a child is in stable housing again.

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