…I am also pleased to see this budget requests a nine percent, or $100 million, increase for the 21^st Century Community Learning Centers… Mr. Secretary, you know some of my concerns in this area, I am concerned that the Department's policies seem to place an emphasis on extended learning time programs over traditional after school programs, which is not what Congress authorized this program to do. I am concerned that this particular request eliminates the current formula funding to states, in favor of a national competition.

There would be a significant reduction of investment in informal STEM education (ISE) if this budget request were to be approved.  Federal science mission agencies—such as NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Defense, and the Environmental Protection Agency—that have invested in ISE and afterschool see a significant reduction if not a complete elimination of their STEM education budgets.  Of particular interest to the afterschool community, NASA’s Summer of Innovation program, which has provided funds to summer and afterschool providers, has been zeroed out.  The National Science Foundation’s Advancing Informal Science Learning program also sees a $13.6 million cut below its current level of funding.       

The Smithsonian is a new and surprising partner in STEM education, and the details of the $25 million request for “STEM engagement” are still being worked out.  One of its main roles will likely be to serve as a centralized location for the education resources generated by the various science mission agencies.  According to the budget request:

“The STEM initiative will be coordinated by the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access, which will create new online resources and experiences for students that have a measurable impact, align Smithsonian content with learning standards set by the states and create communities of teachers who may use Smithsonian content and tools to customize their own programs.”  

At the Department of Education, the only real new opportunity for ISE lies with the “STEM Innovation Networks,” a new program to help school districts build strategic partnerships with institutions of higher education, museums, businesses, government agencies, etc.  The three pillars for these networks are supposed to be teacher preparation, teacher professional development and ISE.  However, the only required partnership as of right now is between school districts and universities, raising a concern that ISE will (again) not play its rightful role in STEM education reform.

The focus of the other K-12 programs proposed by the department is on teacher recruitment, preparation and professional development—$80 million to prepare 100,000 excellent teachers over the next decade (the "100k in 10" initiative) and $35 million to pilot a new program, the STEM Master Teacher Corps, that would recognize and reward the best and brightest STEM teachers and help them play a leadership role in their schools and communities.  The Effective Teaching and Learning Program (formerly the Math and Science Partnerships Program) will receive $150 million; this program has been mostly used to provide professional development to teachers.

There are still many details to be worked out in this large-scale redesign of STEM education.  While the proposal is worrisome for those of us who strongly believe that ISE should play an integral role in STEM education reform, it is still just a budget request.  The ISE and afterschool community should view it as an opportunity to engage the Administration and Congress in a dialogue about the research base and evidence for building an “ecosystem for learning” that includes afterschool.  Let’s rally to make it clear that young people lose when they can’t participate in innovative engaging afterschool STEM learning opportunities.

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 21^st CCLC and federal funding for afterschool programs.

We had similar meaningful discussions about the importance of afterschool and summer programs with Congressional staff in all of our visits.  During these talks we emphasized the importance of the 21^st CCLC grant program for facilitating the strong school-community partnerships that are at the heart of Nebraska’s afterschool programs, stressing how this proven, effective federal investment is multiplied many times over through meaningful collaborations in communities across our state.  

We left Washington feeling good about our discussions, but uncertain what impact these conversations might have.  This uncertainty dissipated the next week when we received a follow up call from the staff of newly-elected Sen. Deb Fischer’s Omaha office.  Following our meeting in D.C., Sen. Fischer’s chief of staff contacted their local office to schedule a site visit in order to get a first-hand perspective on this important work in Nebraska. 

We contacted the Collective for Youth, an intermediary facilitating out-of-school-time (OST) programs in the Omaha Metro Area, to arrange a tour of Marrs Middle School’s afterschool program, a 21^st CCLC collaboration administered by the local nonprofit Completely Kids that has a well-regarded STEM program.  Unsurprisingly the site visit was a big success, with the senator’s staff gaining a first-hand experience of the important role that afterschool programs play in the lives of youth in high poverty schools and the vital role of 21^st CCLC grants in facilitating this school-community partnership that is leveraging local investments and supporting thousands of working families in our state. 

With these positive experiences now under my belt, first in Washington and then back home in Nebraska, the Afterschool for All Challenge will definitely be an activity central to my work advocating for more high quality afterschool programs.

The support for afterschool is not limited to the cities that The Wallace Foundation has supported.  The National League of Cities has an Afterschool Policy Advisors Network (APAN) that includes members from more than 300 cities.  This network helps local elected officials and senior municipal staff promote afterschool opportunities in their cities and nationally by sharing research, tools and best practices.  I recently had the opportunity to talk with members of APAN and other interested city leaders at the 2013 Congressional City Conference.  While city and municipal leaders at the conference were tackling big challenges like handling the effects of sequestration and addressing gun violence in cities, the attendees at my session showed strong support for afterschool and the important role that it can play in their communities.   

Together with the National League of Cities, the Afterschool Alliance will continue to look for ways to raise the voices of city and municipal leaders on behalf of afterschool.  Given the recent afterschool and city leadership events, I have a feeling we will have no shortage of mayors and city leaders ready to help!