Snacks by Erik Peterson
APR
16
IN THE FIELD
By Erik Peterson
As summer learning program providers gear up for the summer months, now is the time to finalize arrangements for offering summer meals to participating children. The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provides at least one healthy meal at no cost to children who rely on free and reduced price school meals during the academic year. While the SFSP reaches many eligible children, the need is much greater. During summer 2011, only 1 in 7 children who were eligible for free or reduced price school lunches participated in the SFSP.
In an effort to better understand how summer learning providers feed participating children, please complete a short summer food survey, available here. The survey closes April 30, and findings will be made available this summer.
It's not too late to learn how to become a Summer Food Service Program sponsor or site.
APR
10
POLICY
By Erik Peterson
Today the president released his budget request for the upcoming 2014 fiscal year, which begins this October. With regard to support for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) initiative, the president requested $1.25 billion—reflecting an increase of $100 million from FY2012 levels (pre-sequester levels). As was the case in his budget request last year, the president proposes to radically change 21st CCLC to a competitive grant at the federal level as well as prioritizing 21st CCLC grant funding for new purposes including adding time to the traditional school day or year, and for teacher planning and professional development.
In a challenging budget environment in which many programs face consolidation or elimination, the proposed increase in 21st CCLC in the budget request demonstrates the importance and value of expanded learning opportunities. Unfortunately, in the budget documents and most notably in the budget justification, the president makes the preference for expanded learning time (ELT) clear by indicating that unless ESEA is reauthorized before FY2014 begins, the Administration will request authority to use the $100 million increase for competitive grants to support ELT models.
The Afterschool Alliance supports 21st CCLC funds being directed to high-quality afterschool, before-school and summer learning programs that focus on hands-on, engaged learning that complements and enhances but does not replicate the traditional school day. While not mentioned in the president’s budget, the Afterschool Alliance feels strongly that 21st CCLC funding should continue to support the partnerships between schools and community- and faith-based organizations that help children improve academically, socially and behaviorally while parents are at work. For more information on expanded learning, see our expanded learning resource page.
Additional Education Department funding that supports afterschool and summer learning includes $14.5 billion (level with FY2012) for Title I and $300 million for Promise Neighborhoods. The Safe, Successful and Healthy Students program would consolidate safe and drug free schools activities as well as school counseling and the Physical Education Program into one $280 million program. Note that all budget request amounts in the president's 2014 budget do not reflect the sequester and assume Congress will restore the funds cut by the March 1, 2013, deadline. The Department of Education’s budget summary is online.
Other budget news for the afterschool community:
School Safety
The president has proposed a new, comprehensive plan, Now is the Time, to protect schools and communities by reducing gun violence and providing resources to schools. Approximately $112 million in new funds are targeted to help to prepare schools for emergencies, create nurturing school climates and provide intensive supports to students who are exposed to violence. Other activities include collecting data on indicators of school safety and providing guidance on school discipline policies.
High School Redesign
Another new initiative is the $300 million High School Redesign program that that promotes innovative ways to prepare youth to be college and career ready, including, “career-related experiences or competencies, obtained through organized internships and mentorships, structured work-based learning, and other related experiences.”
National Service
The budget requests $1.06 billion for the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), roughly even with the Fiscal Year 2012 enacted level. The funding level supports 82,000 AmeriCorps members, includes $49 million for the Social Innovation Fund, and creates the George H.W. Bush Volunteer Generation Fund, a $10 million program focused on improving the capacity of nonprofits to effectively manage and sustain volunteers. The CNCS AmeriCorps and VISTA programs help support afterschool programs.
Child Care Development Fund (CCDF)
The budget provides an additional $200 million in discretionary funds for states to support high-quality child care (including health and safety) in 2014 as well as a $500 million increase in mandatory funding for CCDF. Over the next 10 years, a total of $7 billion is invested to maintain the availability of child care subsidies. The budget invests $1.4 billion in new Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships to support states and communities in expanding the availability of high-quality learning opportunities for our youngest children.
Community Service Block Grant (CSBG)
The budget cuts CSBG by almost half, providing just $350 million for FY2014. The budget proposes to use competition to target the funds to high-performing agencies that are most successful in meeting important community needs.
Juvenile Justice
The budget renews efforts to promote juvenile justice and prevent youth violence. The budget provides $332 million for the Department of Justice's Juvenile Justice programs and includes evidence-based investments to prevent youth violence, including $25 million to fund the Community-Based Violence Prevention Initiative to provide grants to replicate successful community-based interventions to control shootings and other serious gang violence, and $4 million for the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention, which provides assistance for selected communities across the nation to develop and implement youth violence strategies. The budget also includes $20 million for the Juvenile Justice Realignment Incentive Grants, which, in tandem with the $30 million reserved for Juvenile Accountability Block Grants, will assist states that are pursuing evidence-based, juvenile justice system alignment to foster better outcomes for young people, less costly use of incarceration and increased public safety. Further, the budget makes available $23 million for research and pilot projects focused on developing appropriate responses to youth exposed to violence.
STEM
The budget proposes a comprehensive reorganization of STEM education programs to increase the impact of federal investments in four areas: K-12 instruction, undergraduate education, graduate fellowships, and education activities that typically take place outside the classroom—all with a focus on increasing participation and opportunities for individuals from groups historically underrepresented in these fields. The reorganization involves a consolidation of nearly 90 programs across 11 different agencies. Nearly $180 million will be redirected from these consolidated programs toward the Department of Education, National Science Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution to implement core initiatives in these four priority areas.
The Department of Education will restructure its own existing efforts to lead an initiative around improving K-12 STEM education. The budget invests $150 million, redirected from within the department and from other agencies, to support STEM Innovation Networks, which would be districts or consortia of districts working in partnership with universities, science agencies, museums, businesses and other educational entities. These public-private partnerships will work to harness local, regional and national resources to dramatically transform teaching and learning by implementing research-based practices, supporting innovation and building capacity at both school and district levels.
Also included in the Department of Education budget is $80 million for STEM Teacher Pathways to offer competitive grants to recruit, train and place talented recent college graduates and mid-career professionals in the STEM fields in high-need schools and $35 million to establish a new STEM Master Teacher Corps. STEM Master Teacher Corps members would make a multi-year commitment to build a community of teaching practice where they live, help students excel in math and science while taking on leadership and mentorship roles in their schools and communities and the broader STEM field, and receive annual stipends on top of their base salaries for their service in the Corps. Recognizing many agencies currently engage in various informal education activities to get the public, students and teachers interested in their missions and research, the budget redirects $25 million from these agencies to the Smithsonian Institution to improve the reach of informal education activities by ensuring that they are aligned with state standards and are relevant to the classroom. Look for follow-up post on the STEM aspects of the budget early next week.
Take Action! The president’s budget is typically released in early February and the late release in mid-April follows the passage of separate FY2014 budget resolutions last month by both the House and the Senate. The budget request now goes to Congress, where budget and appropriations deliberations for FY2014 are underway. House and Senate appropriations committees are holding hearings this week and next week to hear details of the education budget request from Sec. Duncan. Friends of afterschool programs can contact their Members of Congress to express support for 21st CCLC and federal funding for afterschool programs.
MAR
25
POLICY
By Erik Peterson
For the first time in more than four years, both the Senate and the House have passed budget resolutions. While budget resolutions in Congress don't have the force of law and largely serve as visionary documents or blueprints, they do determine the amount of money the appropriations committees will have to spend on discretionary budget items for the upcoming 2014 fiscal year that begins on October 1.
The budgets that passed are a study in contrasts. The House budget represents a significant cut to non-defense discretionary programs like education funding, while the Senate version has some cuts but also prioritizes some discretionary funding like child care and education, which is offset in part by new revenue. Crucial discretionary investments include things like afterschool and summer learning through the 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative, child care assistance, special education services and help for low income students through Title I. From 2010 to 2012 discretionary investments for children have already been cut by $2 billion dollars, and they are expected to drop further in 2013.
The House budget extends harmful sequestration cuts that could cut investments to kids by more than $40 billion over 11 years. These cuts fall heavily on investments in education, early childhood and children’s housing. It also cuts non-defense discretionary spending by an additional $650 billion over 10 years by shifting all the scheduled cuts in defense spending onto non-defense areas. Applied proportionally, these additional cuts could cost kids another $72 billion. Finally, the House version cuts all non-defense discretionary investments by nearly $1 trillion.
The Senate budget resolution eliminates sequestration and restores all cuts currently in effect. This alone would restore more than $4 billion in investments for children and youth for Fiscal Year 2013 including restoring afterschool supports to the 56,000 children slated to lose those programs this fall. The Senate version further lowers non-defense discretionary spending caps by $150 billion. Applying this reduction proportionally, this would result in a $17 billion reduction in funding for children’s initiatives. However, the budget proposal emphasizes the importance of early education, child care, child nutrition, as well as other areas suggesting the intent to protect critical investments in children. During the budget debate on the Senate side, Sen. Boxer sent a strong signal on the importance of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative by authoring an amendment in support of this valuable afterschool and summer learning program. While the amendment was not voted upon due to procedural issues with the budget process, the Senate remains in strong support of afterschool programs, with Sens. Murray and Harkin expressing their support for the amendment as well.
The president is expected to release his budget on April 8.
MAR
21
POLICY
By Erik Peterson
The federal government will remain open after March 27, as a result of the Senate and House passing a final Continuing Resolution (CR) for Fiscal Year (FY)2013. The Senate passed their version of the CR late yesterday, and the House followed suit by passing the Senate version unchanged earlier today. The Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2013 will fund all federal agencies through the end of September and changed some federal funding levels from last year, however the 5 percent across-the-board sequester cut was left in place. The final CR also didn't include the House version's 0.098 percent across the board cut.
The Labor, Health and Human Services as well as Education programs were not included in the CR and therefore funding for these programs will remain at FY2012 levels through the end of the current fiscal year. There were several anomalies in the spending bill, including a $50 million increase for the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) to support care for 9,000 more children from working families—significant because not many programs were slated for increases.
The
21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative is funded at $1.15 billion in FY2012 and (like most non-defense discretionary funding) will be subject to the 5 percent sequester. AmeriCorps VISTA funding and other programs through the Corporation for National and Community Service will remain at FY2012 levels, although subject to the 5 percent sequester cut. Key Juvenile Justice funding that supports afterschool programs include Youth Mentoring Grants ($90 million) and Title V—Delinquency Prevention Incentive Grants ($20 million).
For more details on the CR process leading up to the votes this week see
this blog post from last week.
MAR
15
IN THE FIELD
By Erik Peterson
On March 14, Hawaii’s Lieutenant Governor Shan Tsutsui announced a plan to develop a new statewide initiative to enhance the learning experience of intermediate and middle school students during the afterschool hours. According to the lieutenant governor’s office, the Hawaii Intermediate/Middle School Challenge will provide a comprehensive social and educational foundation that will enrich the lives of intermediate/middle school students throughout Hawaii through a broad base of programs and activities, outside of regular instructional hours. The program seeks to include academic enrichment, arts and culture, and sports and will be designed to help prepare students for high school, college, the workforce and their communities.
The new initiative addresses the need to keep young people safe and engaged during the hours immediately following school. Afterschool programs are shown to increase or improve school attendance, behavior and coursework—all key indicators in whether a middle school student will graduate. Furthermore, studies show that crimes committed by or against juveniles occur with greater frequency on schools days and roughly between the hours of 3 and 7 p.m.
The Hawaii Intermediate/Middle School Challenge was inspired by After-School All-Stars Hawaii, a comprehensive, high quality afterschool program for middle school students that provides free, engaging afterschool programming that helps young people succeed in school and in life. The program serves middle school youth ages 12-15 during the afterschool hours of 3 to 6 p.m. at eight middle schools on Oahu. Students from After-School All-Stars joined the lieutenant governor for the announcement.
According to the lieutenant governor’s office, effective and positive afterschool programs provide not only an educational benefit to students but also a social value to the overall community by reducing juvenile crime. Hawaii has long focused on providing afterschool programs to elementary and high school students, however successful programs for intermediate/middle school students are sporadic and decentralized. Last October the Department of Education introduced the Intermediate Athletics Pilot program, to be piloted in the Zones of School Innovation (ZSI) in the Nanakuli-Waianae complex and the Kau-Keaau-Pahoa complex on Hawaii Island. The new Hawaii Intermediate/Middle School Challenge initiative adds a comprehensive program for intermediate/middle schools with the support and guidance to implement effective and positive afterschool programs statewide. The announcement pointed to strong school-community partnerships as an important part of the initiative going forward.
The Hawaii Intermediate/Middle School Challenge will start immediately after the school day ends and is intended to be a comprehensive and structured statewide program to fill the gap of youth activities available to students between the 6th and 8th grades. Programs offered will be from three general categories—academic enrichment, arts and culture, and sports. Currently the majority of existing intermediate/middle school programs is supported by unpredictable federal funding; a more reliable source of funding would provide greater stability for the programs, as well as greater participation. Accordingly, using a community based approach the program will seek to utilize available federal and state funds while also partnering with schools, parents and the private sector to provide funding and resources to facilitate the program’s success. The partnership with these stakeholders will ensure that the afterschool programs will be well established in their respective communities and will likely be financially sustainable for the long-term.
Program goals include:
- Continuing the Department of Education’s vision of utilizing a school-community network approach to engage community-wide support and responsibility for intermediate/middle school students’ education, health and well-being.
- Providing students at all intermediate/middle schools within the state the opportunity to participate in before- or afterschool programs that will enrich and encourage student growth in academics, personal responsibility and maturity, creativity, and the development of social skills.
- Reducing the number of student dropouts by providing a seamless transition of afterschool programs that promote student participation in school-related functions from elementary through high school.
- Providing health, fitness, educational and social enrichment opportunities to intermediate/middle school students.
MAR
15
POLICY
By Erik Peterson
Congress continues work this week on a spending bill for Fiscal Year (FY)2013 to replace the Continuing Resolution (CR) that expires March 27. Last week the House passed its version of the FY2013 spending bill, and the Senate took up their version of a final FY2013 spending bill this week. Both the House and the Senate bills leave the 5 percent across-the-board sequester cut in place. The House CR also includes its own 0.098 percent across-the-board cut on top of the sequester cut. A FY2013 spending bill must be agreed upon by the House and Senate and signed into law by the president before March 27 to prevent a government shut-down.
The Senate has developed a hybrid spending bill to fund the government through Sept. 30, the end of FY2013. This version includes full appropriations bills for more agencies than the House version. The Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2013—developed in a bipartisan manner by Appropriations Committee Chair Sen. Mikulski (D-MD) and Ranking Member Sen. Shelby (R-AL) includes separate divisions for appropriations to Agriculture; Commerce, Justice and Science; Defense; Homeland Security; and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. The Mikulski-Shelby bill provides about $1 trillion in budget authority, consistent with the Budget Control Act of 2011.
Labor, Health and Human Services as well as Education programs were not included in the Mikulski-Shelby bill and therefore would be funded under a regular CR, which would extend programs’ funding at FY2012 levels through the end of the current fiscal year. The spending bill does include a $50 million increase for the Child Care Development Fund (CCDF), significant because not many programs were slated for modest increases. The 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative is funded at $1.15 billion in FY2012 and (like most non-defense discretionary funding) will be subject to the 5 percent sequester cut plus the 0.098 percent cut from the House bill if that remains in the final version of the bill.
The Mikulski-Shelby bill is expected to be voted upon by the full Senate by the end of the week. The House and Senate then must reconcile their differing FY2013 spending bills and pass a final bill before March 27 when the current CR expires. Once the final FY2013 bill passes, check back for final spending levels for key afterschool and summer learning related funding streams.
MAR
14
POLICY
By Erik Peterson
On Wednesday, March 13, Kayla Brathwaite, a YMCA afterschool program participant and youth leader from New York City, testified before the
House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies about the critical role afterschool programs play in supporting youth and working families. She urged Congress to maintain the nation’s current investment ($1.15 billion) for 21
st Century Community Learning Centers (21
st CCLC) and to support afterschool and summer learning.
Brathwaite is a high school student from Queens, NY. She has participated in
YMCA afterschool programs since middle school, and currently participates in the Y’s Youth and Government and Teens Take the City programs. The Y’s afterschool programs provide Kayla, like so many other youth, with enrichment and recreational opportunities, academic supports and interventions, leadership development, health and wellness guidance, and arts and humanities programming. Kayla’s mother depends on 21
st CCLC funding to not only bridge the gap between school and home during the critical hours of 3 to 6 p.m., but to also provide her with an affordable, high quality afterschool option.
Kayla testified, “I know that I am one of the lucky ones, one of the lucky kids in New York City who has the support of the people around her and an organization like the YMCA to help her succeed.” She continued, “I am here today with my mother who probably appreciates these funds and the programs they provide even more than I do since these programs allow my mother to be at her job knowing that I am in a safe place at the YMCA.”
In her
written testimony, Kayla stated, “I am here today for all youth who need these programs to succeed and for all parents who need these programs to help keep their jobs and for the employers who employ those parents—we should not forget that these programs or the lack of these programs will have an effect on our economy."
Afterschool advocates can reiterate Kayla’s message by
sending an email to Congress supporting funding for 21
st CCLC and afterschool and summer learning programs.
MAR
1
POLICY
By Erik Peterson
When Congress passed the Budget Control Act of 2011 almost two years ago, they included a provision meant to be so difficult to swallow that it would force the House and the Senate, Republicans and Democrats, to come together and pass a reasonable plan for reigning in the deficit. That strategy failed and the result is that the across-the-board cuts known as the sequester officially went into effect today—after a two month reprieve that resulted from the Jan. 1, 2013, fiscal cliff resolution.
For many children, families, afterschool programs, community-based organizations and schools, the impact of the sequester will take some time before it's felt. For other communities, particularly those near military bases or other federally impacted communities, the effects will be apparent sooner. Most of the one hundred federal funding streams that support afterschool and summer learning programs will be cut by 5.1 percent across the board and indiscriminately, including AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps VISTA, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, Title I education funding, Child Care Development Block Grant vouchers, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and the Community Services Block Grant. When the cuts become apparent will depend on the funding stream and whether or not the funding comes from FY2013 funds.
A few examples of the impact of the cuts include:
- Approximately 30,000 low-income children of working parents would lose child care assistance through the Child Care and Development Block Grant and many more would experience a reduction in services.
- Title I Grants to school districts would see a cut in excess of $750 million, denying funding to well over 2,500 schools serving more than 1 million disadvantaged students. These funds pay for teachers, tutors and afterschool programs. Sequestration would mean job losses for more than 10,500 teachers and aides.
- For the 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative, it is now estimated that about 58,000 young people would lose afterschool and summer learning supports, likely beginning with the 2013-14 school year.
State by state fact sheets showing the full effect of the sequester have been released by the White House. A table showing the state level cuts to 21st CCLC as a result of the sequester is available on our website. Congress and the White House have the opportunity to act to resolve the sequester, and advocates can encourage them to do just that.
While the sequester dominated Washington this week, other events occurred as well:
- Sen. Boxer (D-CA) took to the Senate floor on Thursday to issue a statement that highlights the efforts of afterschool and summer learning programs in offering important science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education to young people.
- Hearings in the House Education and Workforce Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee continued to discuss school safety and violence prevention in the wake of the tragedy on Newtown, CT, last December.
- The Building a Grad Nation Summit brought thousands of educators and education advocates together early this week to discuss the progress in graduation rates and promising practices making a difference in the lives of young people.
Be the first to comment on this entry.
+ Add a Comment: