Opinion: Want to prevent students from becoming homeless? Make public colleges free

To the editor: My office is acutely aware of the increased incidence of homelessness and hunger among many college students as highlighted in this article. (Re “1 in 10 CSU students is homeless,” June 21)

Although young people have always faced challenges in transitioning from adolescence to adulthood, it seems incontrovertible that the second half of the millennial generation faces barriers to stability unlike any generation before them. Housing is virtually unaffordable in our county as rent increases consistently outpace stagnant wages, especially for entry-level jobs.

We are taking many steps, including convening all the two-year and four-year colleges in my district to begin a robust and collaborative approach to identifying, supporting and serving homeless and food-insecure students.

No college student should be without a roof over his or her head, and we have much work to do to ensure that these men and women have the support they need. Thank you for increasing awareness about this serious problem.

Sheila Kuehl, Santa Monica

The writer is a Los Angeles County supervisor.

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To the editor: It’s stunning that 1 in 10 Cal State University students is homeless and 1 in 5 is hungry.

How can they study? And if this is the case for CSU students, what is it like for elementary, middle and high school students?

The big national discussion right now is how to keep guns out of the hands of evildoers. It should be, it must be, about homes and food for children, teenagers and young adults who don’t have these basic needs. They are the future of the United States.

How can this country maintain its democracy if young people cannot believe in it because they don’t know what it is? We’ve got to get our priorities in order.

Damiana Chavez, Los Angeles

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To the editor: The obvious solution to solving this awful statistic is to raise tuition to a point where poor kids can no longer even dream of getting a college education. I’m surprised that the nabobs in Sacramento haven’t thought of it. Then the poor kids will drop out and the embarrassing statistic will go away.

I say this with tongue in cheek. Seriously, the answer is to do as Sen. Bernie Sanders recommends: Make public colleges free. This is one way, perhaps the only way, that the wealth gap between rich and poor can be closed.

We should view education as a capital improvement, just as we view investing in infrastructure. The kids won’t let us down.

Karl F. Schmid, Los Angeles

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