You did it! How we stopped elimination of afterschool funding

In March 2019, the administration called for eliminating all 21^st Century Community Learning Center funding for afterschool and summer programs in the 2020 budget. The cut threatened to close programs that 1.7 million kids and their families rely on. The afterschool field jumped into action, and never gave up.

This week we saw our efforts pay off: Congress passed a budget that not only rejected elimination of funding, but provides an additional $28 million for afterschool and summer programs.

Reflecting on how we got to this tremendous result, we took a look back at the 7-point plan we shared with you back in March. Together, we did it all and more in just 10 months: 

1. Acted fast: The day of the budget announcement, Executive Director Jodi Grant sent a statement to press, Erik Peterson laid out the details in a blog for the field, emails to almost 100,000 people went out asking the field to take action and contact Congress, and social media reinforced the ask.
2. Kicked butt: The Terminator kicked into gear with a video post on Twitter condemning the cut. Asked Schwarzenegger, “Why give money to rich people and take it away from poor little kids?” Politico California later covered the story.
3. Got loud: We flooded Capitol Hill with 7,500+ calls and emails to Congress in the first 24 hours, reaching a total of 30,000 contacts to Congress this year.
4. And louder: Jodi Grant and Barry D. Ford, president and CEO of Council for Strong America, went on air with radio stations across the country to let communities know what’s at stake. We spoke with many, many news outlets, saw coverage in the Washington Post, Education Week, Grand Magazine, and Youth Today.
5. But serious: Researchers refuted the idea afterschool doesn’t work, posts like this one from Corey Newhouse at Public Profit: A researcher's view: 21st CCLC programs "play an invaluable role." And Fight Crime: Invest in Kids released a new report showing that afterschool is critical to help keep kids safe, and that the peak in juvenile crime on school days occurs between 2-6 p.m. Police chiefs and other law enforcement leaders spoke of the data and the need for afterschool at Lights On Afterschool events around the country.
6. Called in the support of friends: Friends of afterschool took a stand. A Dear Colleague letter supporting afterschool funding was signed by 136 Members of Congress. 300+ local, state, and national organizations signed a letter to Congress in support of afterschool funding. And afterschool supporters logged more than 245 meetings and visits with policymakers, in D.C. and at home.
7. Kept it up: A rolling drumbeat of action and outreach beat back afterschool elimination. We’ve got to repeat these steps over and over again until programs have the resources they need to keep kids safe, inspire them to grow and learn, and give parents peace of mind.

Thank you all for your efforts, and congratulations!  We are grateful for all the people who took action, including the 50 state afterschool networks, America Scores, Americans for the Arts, After-School All-Stars, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Center for American Progress, Coalition for Community Schools, Communities In Schools, Council for a Strong America, Food Research and Action Center, Foundations Inc., Girls Inc., Learning Policy Institute, MENTOR, National AfterSchool Association, National Parks and Recreation Association, National Summer Learning Association, Save the Children, Service Year Alliance, YMCA of the USA, and 21st Century Community Learning Centers and afterschool and summer programs everywhere.

Has your voice been heard? Reach out to your members of Congress and thank them for supporting afterschool and summer programs.