Since elementary school, Malik had experienced homelessness while attending Santa Monica public schools. He and his family moved often between shelters. Sometimes that meant toggling between Skid Row, the beach and their family car when shelter space was unavailable. Recently, however, Malik, now a high school graduate, Santa Monica College student and young father, was finally able to do something unimaginable — put up his feet in his new permanent home. That became possible through a partnership between the city of Santa Monica, Community Corporation of Santa Monica, and St. Joseph Center’s Youth Resource Team. The city’s new Berkeley Station modular housing development was designed specifically for young people connected to supportive services and Santa Monica schools. Malik’s story reflects a growing reality across California: the housing crisis has become an educational crisis. Recently, UCLA’s Center for the Transformation of Schools released new data showing student homelessness in Los Angeles County rose nearly 30% between 2022–23 and 2023–24, outpacing both state and national increases. More than 61,000 students across Los Angeles County experienced homelessness last year alone. This new reality is driven largely by worsening housing affordability, rising rents and the expiration of pandemic-era protections. The McKinney-Vento Act acknowledges a simple truth: housing stability and educational success are deeply connected. Yet for thousands of California students, housing instability continues to disrupt attendance, learning and access to the teachers, counselors and support systems that are essential to academic success. If we are serious about improving educational outcomes, we must also be…
