The leading segment on last night’s edition of 60 Minutes was Hard Times Generation. The story features the children of homeless families, the choices they make, and what daily life is like when you live in a car or truck. I watched the story with three other people last night. The house was silent as everyone watched. This is a story that everyone should watch.

This segment made me think again about the need to balance school reform initiatives with the realities of teaching in many public schools. The next time you’re wondering why a student hasn’t completed an assignment, it just might be that she was more worried about making sure her family was safe than she was about completing a list of math problems or memorizing new vocabulary words.