Before they can hope to graduate, students need basic needs met

During the first days Landis Brewer spent homeless, he maintained a facade of suburban comfort at South County High School, where the all-district running back with the easy smile was the image of teenage aplomb. But when Brewer left campus, that veneer disappeared.

He slept at a bus stop in Reston and kept his belongings in a garbage bag hidden behind a bush. After his grades started slipping and a teacher caught him dozing off in class, the ugly story tumbled out, writes Washington Post staff writer Kevin Sieff.

A 2001 federal law requires every district to have a homeless liaison and directs about $60 million annually to programs aiding homeless students — but the federal dollars cannot be spent on housing, which means many unaccompanied students have access to tutors and transportation, but no stable shelter.

It's not hard to deduce that many will simply dropout. The truth is that most students want to stay in school — they'll even fight to stay in school — but when certain basic needs are unmet, they no longer have a choice. In Rebekah Richards' "Safe at School: Avoiding a Double Failure," on this blog, the American Academy co-founder and principal argues that we cannot hope to provide every child an education until we ensure that every child's more pressing needs are met. That means food, safety and — as in Brewer's case — shelter.