In today’s rundown: Homelessness on the rise in the DC metro region. | Shrinking budgets at some DC public schools. | Going behind the niqab with Muslim women.
— Homelessness in the Washington area has increased two percent since 2007, reports the Washington Examiner. The number of homeless families in the region went up nearly 10 percent during the economic downturn, according to The Washington Post. Surveyors counted 11,988 homeless people in the region. Nearly one-third were children and 5,315 were in families.
— Even though Mayor Vincent Gray’s proposed 2012 budget for the city would increase school spending by $67 million, many District schools will see their budgets shrink when the next fiscal year begins, reports The Washington Post. “… 49 of 123 public schools would lose at least $500 in per pupil funding under Gray’s plan….”
— Also in the Post: a reporter explores why some Muslim women wear a niqab, a head-to-toe veil, and the reactions they get in their communities.
Photo credit: Ed Yourdon via Creative Commons