Congress Should Reject Bush Administration’s Proposal to Gut Funding for After School Programs, Witnesses Tell House Education Committee
President’s Proposals Could Cut Services for More than a Million Schoolchildren

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

WASHINGTON, DC -- Congress should reject the Bush administration’s proposals to gut funding for federal after school programs and to change the programs into a voucher system, witnesses told the House Education and Labor Committee today. The witnesses urged Congress to instead expand funding and support for after school programs, which have proven effective in enhancing students’ academic performance, safety, and well-being.

"At a time when improving student achievement and success is more crucial than ever, we should be focused on how we can expand after school opportunities that have great benefits for our children – not on beating back repeated threats to these programs,” said U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI), the chair of the House Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education, and a co-chair of the Congressional After School Caucus. "As a former teacher, I know first hand the difference that good after school programs can make in the lives of children and their communities.”

In his fiscal year 2009 budget, President George W. Bush proposed cutting funding for the 21^st Century Community Learning Centers program, the primary source of federal support for after school programs, by 26 percent – or $280 million. He also proposed converting the program into a voucher program. According to the administration’s own estimates, these changes could force more than a million children out of after school programs.

As today’s witnesses explained, these proposals would have devastating effects on children and families, and even could pose harms to the nation’s workforce and competitiveness.

“Participation in well implemented after school programs can support academic achievement and school success,” said Priscilla Little, Associate Director of the Family Research Project, who discussed widespread evidence of the benefits of after school programs. “We have learned a lot about the enormous potential after school programs have to support a range of positive learning and development outcomes, outcomes that can help young people succeed in school and in their community and prepare them for postsecondary success, including attending college, getting competitive wage jobs, and being engaged community and family members.”

Michael J. Carroll, the Chief the West Goshen Township Police Department in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said that after school programs not only help improve student performance in school, but also make communities safer. “Research from across the country consistently shows that on school days, the hours from 3 to 6 pm are also the peak hours when children are most likely to become victims of crime, be in a automobile accident, smoke, drink alcohol, or use drugs. Fortunately, quality afterschool programs can cut crime and transform the ‘prime time for juvenile crime’ into hours of academic enrichment, constructive recreation, and community service,” he said. “The proposed cut and restructuring are policy directions that would result in fewer afterschool opportunities for at-risk youth, and would make our communities and all our citizens more vulnerable to crime – with all of crime’s costs, both human and financial.”

LaDonna Gamble, the Interim Project Director of the Bridges to the Future Before and Afterschool Program in Flint, explained what the President’s budget cuts could mean for after school programs throughout Michigan: “The proposed cut, if enacted by Congress, would almost certainly mean that Michigan would make no new grants next year. Quite simply, that’d mean fewer afterschool programs, fewer children safe, and fewer families served. In Flint, we already have waiting lists of children wanting to be in our afterschool programs.  A cut would only exacerbate the problem.”

“Currently, over 14 million students leave school at 3:00 pm or earlier, with nowhere to go,” said Theresa Kough, the After School Program co-coordinator for the Delaware Department of Education. “The administration’s current proposal to convert the 21^st CCLC program to a voucher system  may force programs to close, which would result in more students with no place to go after school. In addition, the move to a voucher system would undermine existing public, private, community, and faith-based partnerships that are working well.”

During the first year of the 110^th Congress, Democrats increased funding for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers by $100 million. Chairman Kildee has been leading a bipartisan effort to secure $250 million in funding for after school programs during this year’s appropriations process.

For more information on today’s hearing, click here.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tom Kiley / Rachel Racusen
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