Foreclosure Related Problem Causes Schools To Suffer

Posted on September 3, 2008
Filed Under Repo Homes |

Repo Homes related problems are causing schools to suffer. The officials are worried. In Louisville a record number of pupils have fallen to such levels that they now qualify for free meals. Most of them come from families that have been uprooted by foreclosures.

Lauren Roberts of Jefferson County school system bemoans, “we’re seeing a lot more children in poverty.” The body oversees a district with 98,000 students in Louisville and its adjoining suburbs.

The district is grappling with other financial woes stemming from the foreclosure crisis. About $43 million has been hacked off from the funds allotted for spending on education. On the other end of the scale the cost of energy consumption etc have increased. This has made the county authorities to increase the price of lunch, do away with bus services, instruct drivers to turn off cars and to raise property revenue.

This is the picture across the nation with 50 million attending schools. Schools from California to Maine and Florida have had no other option but to cut down school benefits. Some are disposing of bus services, others are putting a curb on travel. Some authorities have gone to the extent of shortening the school going week.

Foreclosures have created a recession like situation even though officials are reluctant to declare it to be so. Anne Bryant categorically states that the “national picture is that food and fuel costs are going up and school revenues are not. We’re in a recession, and it’s having a dramatic impact on schools.”

In some cities the agony foreclosures has triggered is worse. Detroit has struck off the names of at least 700 teachers, Los Angeles those of 500 school administrators and in Miami-Dade County record number of school maintenance staff, custodians and psychologists have lost their jobs. Many districts in California and Ohio have completely withdrawn all school bus services. The officials are unsure about meeting the expenses related to heating the classrooms in the coming winter. Field trips have been cancelled to save money. More radical steps have been taken in Louisiana and Minnesota. The school week has been cut down to four days. Cafeteria meals are costing more in countless districts. Meetings have been held with drivers about reducing fuel consumption.

At the root of the problem are deficits in the budgets. The foreclosure crisis has reduced sales in the real estate market and this has led to increasing loss of revenue. In 31 states the budgetary gap was as much as $40 billion!