Mr. Chairman and Honorable Members of the Subcommittee:
It is an honor to be here today to discuss one of my greatest passions - improving the lives of children. That is the reason I am here today to advocate for continued funding of the 21st Century Learning Grant Program.
There are many problems in the world today, and given enough time and my Terminator like determination, I might be able to tackle them all. Nevertheless, I have chosen to focus my time and energy for the past quarter century on our children because they are quite literally our future.
Ronald Reagan so eloquently told us, America is the Shining City on the Hill - Welcoming all who enter to follow their dreams.
There is no greater American dream than the hope that our children will live a better life. A better life for our children can only happen with a good education and educating our children should not stop at 3:00pm when the school bell rings.
For millions of America’s children this is exactly what happens.
Law enforcement, teachers, parents and students know that 3-6pm is the “danger zone” for our kids. This is the time when our children are most likely to become victims of violent crime, more likely to use drugs, abuse tobacco and alcohol, get pregnant, or commit violent crimes themselves.
I was lucky growing up. I had two parents who kept me on the straight and narrow 24 hours a day. Every day when I came home, my mother was there to greet me at the door. She sat with me, helping me with my homework, making me read out loud until I got every word just right.
Only after my homework was finished, could I go outside where my dad or a coach would take over my instruction and take me skiing, sledding or work on my ice-curling technique or soccer kick or whatever sport was in season.
The bottom line is that there was someone there for me 24 hours a day, coaching me, teaching me, mentoring me, telling me they loved me, telling me that I could achieve anything I set my mind to, that if I worked hard enough I could turn any dream into reality. It was this foundation that built my self confidence and enabled be me to achieve so much in my life. When I came to America in 1968, I had empty pockets but I was full of dreams, desires and determination. I believed I could accomplish anything I set my mind to - a belief that has strengthened with time.
I became the world bodybuilding champion 13 times over. I have made dozens of successful movies, grossing billions of dollars worldwide, I became successful in the real estate and business world, I took English classes at night until I could speak and write well enough to earn my Bachelor’s degree.
I make these points, not to share with you my life’s accomplishments, but more importantly to make the point that none of this – NONE OF THIS - would have been possible without the foundation built by caring parents, coaches and other adults early in my life.
Because of my experience, I had every reason to believe that what I had been told all my life was true: America is the land of opportunity, the place where dreams come true. I always said, “If a farm boy from Austria can make it, anyone can make it in this country.”
Then I had an experience that would change my point of view forever. In 1990, I was appointed by President George Bush as Chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. I visited schools in all fifty states, pumping up the kids to get them off the couch and get them into sports and fitness all the time spreading the word that winners stay away from drugs, alcohol and tobacco. Our fitness program was a huge success, but I saw something that was very disturbing to me.
I saw too many children who seemed to have no aspirations, no dreams and no hope. They were involved with gangs and drugs, spending their afternoons hanging around on the street corner, shopping malls and video arcades, often getting into trouble.
I realized how wrong I was when I said everyone in America can turn their dream into reality.
In fact, I used to say, “Everybody should pull themselves up by their bootstraps just like I did.” What I learned is not everybody has boots. Many of our children are not getting the same foundation I did as a child.
Half of America’s children come from a working single parent or from a family where both parents work outside the home.
Millions of children are left unsupervised when the bell rings ending the school day. This takes its toll on our children, our neighborhoods and on the moral fabric of our Country. If our children are our future, our future is in jeopardy every afternoon between 3 and 6pm when unsupervised children roam the streets.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. After school programs can reduce crime, make our streets safer and improve the lives of our most vulnerable children. I have seen it work all over this country.
I don’t believe in talk, I believe in action and with the help of Danny Hernandez and the Los Angeles Hollenbeck Center we started providing after school programs for thousands of children in Los Angeles.
The program was so successful that nearly 10 years ago, I decided to take it national and we created the “Inner City Games Foundation” which has reached almost 200,000 children in 15 cities nationwide.
A couple of years ago we decided to target at risk junior high students and I started “Arnold’s All Stars”, a model after school program co-chaired by Los Angeles Mayor Jim Hahn and City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo that is operating successfully in some of the most disadvantaged middle schools in Los Angeles County.
But, as Columbine and other school shootings across the nation have shown us, troubled children come from all socio-economic backgrounds.
Every public school that chooses should have the resources to offer their unsupervised students, a safe, educationally enriching place to go after school.
With that goal in mind, last year I sponsored Proposition 49, a California statewide ballot initiative that the voters passed overwhelmingly. I am proud to report to you today that California is the first state in the nation to make it possible for every public elementary and middle school to provide a comprehensive after school program.
The support we received for the initiative was unprecedented! We received tremendous support from across the political spectrum. Hundreds of elected officials endorsed our initiative including Republicans such as Former Governor, and United States Senator Pete Wilson and Senate Republican Leader Jim Brulte, to Democrats such as San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown and Attorney General Bill Lockyer.
Over 80 organizations, representing nearly 6 million members joined together to support California’s children; groups as diverse as the Howard Jarvis Taxpayer Association, the National Tax Limitation Committee and the California Taxpayers Association, as well as the California Teachers Association, the California AARP and the California PTA and nearly every law enforcement organization in the state endorsed our proposition.
Which just goes to show you: When it comes to children, there is no room for partisan politics. I agree with, President Kennedy who said, “Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.”
There are many studies from across the country, which I have footnoted in my comments*. These reports sponsored by universities and organizations looked at various after school programs and clearly demonstrate that children that participate in after school programs are more likely to stay in school and graduate, get higher grades and go on to higher education, improve their test scores, avoid gang membership as well as stay away from violent and dangerous behavior. For example, studies show that students who did not join an after school program were six times more likely to get a criminal conviction than kids in the same school who participated in an after school program.
According to a study by the University of Southern California, being unsupervised after school doubles the risk an eight grader will smoke, drink or abuse drugs.
But crime prevention is only one benefit. Studies show that students who participate in after school programs were half as likely to drop out of high school, and two and a half times more likely to go on to further education.
After school programs are cost effective, if run correctly, they actually save taxpayer dollars. I consider myself a fiscal conservative. Simply throwing taxpayer dollars at a problem is not the solution. The facts show that investing in after school programs makes good financial common sense.
A recent study by the Rose Institute on State and Local Government at California’s Claremont McKenna College, found that for every $1 invested in after school programs by the State of California, taxpayers save $3 by reducing juvenile arrests, incarceration, grade repetition, and other costs to society.
It costs the State of California under $1,000 dollars a year to provide a comprehensive after school program for a child, but over $49,000 dollars a year to incarcerate a juvenile offender in the California Youth Authority and over a million dollars in direct and indirect costs if juveniles become career criminals. Simply put, we can invest in our children now, or we can pay a much higher price later on.
The benefits of after school programs are clear - and frankly, you don’t need a stack of academic studies to come to that conclusion. Just ask any parent, teacher, or police officer in your state and they will tell you that children who participate in after school programs do better in school and stay out of trouble.
I know that for most of you here today, I am repeating what you already know and believe about after school programs. President Bush and you in Congress showed your tremendous commitment to children by passing the “No Child Left Behind Act” and for making a significant investment in the “21st Century Community Learning Centers” and other federally funded after school programs over the last several years. Clearly, you and your colleagues have recognized the benefits of after school programs.
I am confident that your recognition of this opportunity and your continued commitment to providing federal funding for after school programs will, in the full light of history, prove to be a pivotal decision for our nation.
Current funding for 21st Century Learning Centers programs provide over 1.2 million kids in 6,800 centers with educational enrichment and youth development activities. And thanks to changes made by the “No Child Left Behind” act, after school programs have even greater flexibility because community-based organizations can now run programs.
Recently, some of you may have heard about the first installment of a three-year study on the progress of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program. The study found that some after school programs need improvement. I, and others in the after school community, would agree with some of those findings.
But it would be a mistake to use that study as justification to reduce current funding levels for after school programs. Instead of cutting back the funding for after school programs, we should begin to work together to focus on finding ways to improve them, such as:
Participation: We need to make sure kids want to join, and want to stay in an after school program. These programs are not mandatory, so kids are reluctant to join an after school program they perceive as an extension of the school day.
My experience is that we must offer programs that interest kids, not just give them study hall or government-sponsored babysitting. If we hope to have after school programs help with grades and behavior, we must first get the child to participate in the program.
We must also train after school program providers to include the children in the decision making process so that they feel some ownership. At my “Arnolds All Stars” after school program for instance, the kids chose the name of the program, designed their logo and t-shirts, and played a role in deciding what types of activities we offer. To date, we have had almost no dropouts and a have a waiting list for children who would like to join.
Content: A comprehensive after school program should include academics; homework assistance, reading, computer classes, and language skills, etc. But a quality program must include much more. It should also offer enriching activities such as drama, music, physical fitness, computer classes, and other experiences that build self-esteem, maturity, and social responsibility. Offering a variety of activities and experiences might give a child that one spark that excites them about learning and encourages them to do better in their studies.
Accountability: How do you judge if an after school program is a success? Today, there are only vague standards of measurement. The “No Child Left Behind Act” directs states to develop “performance indicators” by which an after school program can be evaluated. But many states have not yet developed them or use vague standards and need some additional guidance.
21st Century after school program providers are eager for clear standards so they can judge the success of their programs. Therefore, we must work together to institute standards by which a successful after school program can be evaluated.
I for one believe that after school programs should be judged not just on how they impact the child, but also how they impact parents, our schools, our neighborhoods, our workforce, and our society.
Without such standards, we cannot truly judge the success of the 21st Century Program, or any after school program, and it is understandable that the federal government is having trouble determining if our tax dollars are being spent wisely.
The good news is that there are a large number of people and organizations in this country with a great deal of expertise on how to create and run a successful after school program. And I can tell you that those people and organizations are eager to share their experiences with anyone that will listen.
In that regard, I am pleased to announce to you today that I am joining with the United States Department of Education to organize a “No Child Left Behind, 21st Century After School Summit” to be held at the Department of Education on June 5th and 6th.
At that Summit, we will bring together the nation’s leading experts, after school program providers, teachers, principals, parents, law enforcement officials, and professional evaluators to share their experiences and knowledge on how to build a comprehensive, fun, and academically enriching after school program that encourages student participation. In addition, we will establish performance and accountability standards.
For many Americans the family dynamic has changed dramatically since I was a child. Having a mom or dad at home every afternoon working on homework with their children or kicking the soccer ball around is just not a possibility.
The one thing that has not changed in the past forty years are the benefits adult supervision can bring to a child’s life, whether at home or at a well run after school program.
In many ways, I embody the American dream: an immigrant farm boy who came to this country with no money and speaking very little english. Yet, I realized every dream I dared reach for. My new dream is that every child in America has the same chance I had.
After school programs work. Test scores go up, crime rates go down and taxpayers save money. Most importantly, after school programs offer America’s children the chance to realize their dreams in this land of opportunity.
Thank you once again Mr. Chairman and members of the committee for the vision and support you have provided for after school programs and for this opportunity to testify before your Subcommittee. I look forward to our continued work together to make certain that no child in America is left behind. And remember, when it’s time for the Committee to consider funding for after school programs in the next budget cycle you can count on one thing…I’ll be back.
I am happy to answer any questions you may have.
