by Calculated Risk on 9/06/2009 11:00:00 AM

In the comments yesterday we were comparing the "feel" of the current recession compared to the early '80s. Back then it seemed there were many more homeless people, and camps of "Reaganvilles" (an echo of the Hoovervilles during Depression) were sprouting up around the country. I commented that it seems there are far fewer homeless people now, so this story caught my eye ...

From the NY Times: Surge in Homeless Children Strains School Districts

While current national data are not available, the number of schoolchildren in homeless families appears to have risen by 75 percent to 100 percent in many districts over the last two years, according to Barbara Duffield, policy director of the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, an advocacy group.

There were 679,000 homeless students reported in 2006-7, a total that surpassed one million by last spring, Ms. Duffield said.

With schools just returning to session, initial reports point to further rises. In San Antonio, for example, the district has enrolled 1,000 homeless students in the first two weeks of school, twice as many as at the same point last year.