All American children have a right to an education—even those without stable housing, who stay in shelters, motels, or substandard apartments, or double up with friends and relatives in overcrowded houses. But it wasn't until 2002, with the strengthening of a federal law known as the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, that all school districts were required to have a liaison for homeless students and to remove barriers to their full participation in school. Despite some progress, Christian Science Monitor writer Stacy A. Teicher says full implementation remains a distant goal.