Statement on Proposed Elimination of 21st Century Community Learning Centers in President Trump’s Budget

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Statement from the New York State Network for Youth Success:

“Making America Great starts with extending a hand to those in need, not pulling the rug out from under them.

The President’s budget proposal to eliminate 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) is a slap in the face to the very people he vowed to help when he was elected. Tens of thousands of working families rely on these programs. Cutting these programs will be a devastating blow to families who rely on afterschool and summer programs to maintain stable employment and to ensure that their children have a safe, supervised place to go after school. In New York alone, this will put 55,000 school age youth out on the street with nowhere to go after school, leaving their parents with impossible choices about how to care for their children on already razor thin household budgets.”

 

A few stats that show the support and benefits these programs provide:

  • Students who participated in programs supported by ExpandED Schools  in New York (formerly TASC) had greater gains in school attendance than students who did not participate and these gains were particularly strong for the crucial middle and high school years.
  • Every $1  invested in afterschool programs saves $9 through:
    • Increasing young people’s earning potential
    • Improving young people’s performance at school
    • Reducing crime and welfare costs
  • Nationally, students who regularly participate in 21st Century Community Learning Centers improved their school attendance, class participation and behavior, homework completion, and reading and math achievement scores and grades.
  • Eighty-one members of Congress (including 11 from New York) signed a bipartisan letter to House Appropriations Committee leaders urging them not to cut afterschool funding.
  • A Quinnipiac national poll that was conducted after the President’s “skinny budget” was released found that 83 percent of voters oppose cutting funding for afterschool and summer programs, with just 14 supporting the administration’s position.