A stable home directly impacts student achievement

Summer is Wisconsin always goes fast! School is starting and kids are excited about returning to their

classroom. I have been reading a lot lately about the link between housing and education. Did you know

that every time a child moves, he or she loses somewhere between 3 and 6 months of educational

achievement?

In Dane County approximately one-third of households pay more than 30 percent of their income for

housing—when households pay too much for housing, they can’t afford food, health care,

transportation. This means that any emergency (car breaking down, health care emergency or loss of

hours at their job) or even a slight increase in rent can result in the need to move to even more

affordable housing—if you can find it. If you can’t find it, your family may become homeless. These

children, who have to move from place to place, are much less likely to have the opportunity to succeed

at school now and in the future. For our students to succeed in school, we need to provide affordable

housing options to their families in communities across Wisconsin.