Feb. 3 -
Today the Bush Administration released its Fiscal Year '04 budget,
which recommends slashing the appropriation for 21st Century
Community Learning Centers, the federal afterschool program, from $1
billion to $600 million. This 40% cut will deny access to afterschool
programs to some 571,000 children.
This federal afterschool program
is vital to children and families across America. It was designed to
provide safe, enriching environments for students after school and to
help working families.
If Congress goes along with
President Bush's cut, more than half a million children will be
denied access to the afterschool programs that keep them safe, help
them learn and relieve their families of child care worries during
the afternoon hours. Children and families in every state and
community will be affected.
Two years ago, the No Child Left
Behind Act created a roadmap for expanding the 21st Century program
and for federal funding that would better meet the widespread,
compelling need for afterschool. Last year the Administration reneged
on the funding commitment it made in that bill. Now, President Bush
is backtracking even further. The No Child Left Behind Act called for
$1.75 billion for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers in
2004. Cutting the program to $600 million instead means that 1.65
million youth lose the opportunity to learn and grow after
school.
Click
here to send a message to President Bush and your
representatives that you want
more, not less, afterschool in your community.
The rationale for this cut -- that
afterschool programs do not improve academics or behavior -- is based
on a federal study with significant limitations, serious
methodological problems and an obvious bias. Dozens of other
respected, independent studies, some of them going into greater depth
and conducted over many years, tell us that afterschool programs keep
children safe, improve learning and help working families.
(See
story and links above.)
Response
to Proposed Budget Slash by Afterschool Alliance Director Judy
Samelson
Closing the Doors on
Afterschool Programs: An Analysis of How the Proposed Cut to the 21st
Century Community Learning Centers Program Will Affect Children and
Families in Every State
To assess the impact of a $400
million cut to the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program
proposed by President Bush for fiscal year 2004, the Afterschool
Alliance has issued a new report called, Closing the Doors on
Afterschool Programs: An Analysis of How the Proposed Cut to the 21st
Century Community Learning Centers Program Will Affect Children and
Families in Every State.
The report illustrates the effect
the proposed cut would have on the availability of afterschool
programs in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Where
available, analysis of the state's ability to meet the current demand
for afterschool program grants is also provided.
A review of the data shows that
the demand for 21st Century afterschool programs far exceeds the
resources available. In fact, among the 31 states reporting 2002
grant data, 75 percent of applicants' funding requests had to be
denied. Without doubt, the 40 percent budget cut proposed by
President Bush would widen this gap significantly. At the proposed
$600 million budget level, program growth would halt, and many 21st
Century afterschool programs across all 50 states would be forced to
close their doors. More than 550,000 children would lose access to
afterschool programs.
PDF of Full Report
New Poll: Voters See
Afterschool Programs As Key to Keeping Kids Safe, Helping Them
Learn
Voters Disagree with Bush
Plan for No Increase in Federal Afterschool Funds
Washington, DC - Even with new
concerns about the economy, terrorism and war, American voters
overwhelmingly support the afterschool programs that keep kids safe
and healthy, help working families and improve academic achievement.
They see afterschool programs as key to keeping children safe during
the sometimes-perilous afternoon hours, and want government to
provide more adequate funds for these programs. Those are among the
findings of a telephone survey of registered voters age 18 and older
conducted for the Afterschool Alliance by Lake Snell Perry &
Associates and The Tarrance Group from August 13 to 21.
Nine in ten voters agree that
there should be some type of organized activity or place for children
to go after school every day that provides opportunities for them to
learn, the survey found. By a two-to-one margin (59 to 28 percent),
voters disagree with President Bush's decision, as reflected in his
2003 budget, to "not increase funding for afterschool programs beyond
their current level." The "No Child Left Behind Act," passed by
Congress last December and signed by President Bush this January,
authorized $1.5 billion for the federal 21st Century Community
Learning Centers program in Fiscal Year 2003 - but President Bush's
budget called for just $1 billion. Nearly two-thirds of voters (63
percent) are concerned that existing afterschool programs may have to
reduce services or close their doors because no new funds are
available. Click
here to read more
Disappointing Federal
Afterschool Study Released
Feb. 3 - The U.S. Department of
Education released a disappointing afterschool report late in the
day, following an announcement by the administration that the 21st
Century Community Learning Centers afterschool program would be cut
by 40% due to the study's findings.
Based on one year of data, the
report states that little gains were made at the programs studied. A
review of the full study, however, reveals that the report diminished
several positive findings, including gains among African American and
Hispanic students and increased parent involvement. (Click
here for analysis of
study.)
"The study released yesterday by
the U.S. Department of Education and Mathematica Policy Research,
Inc. underscores the great promise of afterschool - so it is terribly
disappointing that the report highlights only negative findings and
that the Bush Administration is using this study to justify a deep,
indefensible cut in the federal afterschool program," stated Judy
Samelson, Afterschool Alliance Executive Director.
The Bush plan to slash funding
from $1 billion to $600 million in Fiscal Year '04 would deny
afterschool programs to more than 571,000 children.
The report comes out at a time
when dozens of other respected, independent studies tell us that
afterschool programs keep children safe, improve academic achievement
and help working families. Although the Mathematica study challenges
the benefits afterschool programs provide in terms of keeping kids
safe, two recent evaluations of afterschool show clear evidence of
increased safety. Among the findings:
An about-to-be-released multi-year
study by Policy Study Associates evaluated a sample of 96 programs
run by The After-School Corporation (TASC) in New York City and found
that students reported certain risky behaviors, including alcohol use
and sexual activity, were less common in their lives than they had
been before they began participating in the TASC program.
In a recent report to the U.S.
Department of Justice, UCLA's independent evaluation of LA's BEST
afterschool program found that children reported feeling
significantly safer at an LA's BEST program than in their
neighborhoods.