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Title I is meant to help disadvantaged students reach high academic standards—a portion of these funds can be used to support afterschool programs and summer programs.  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009 has provided $13 billion for programs under Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 for distribution through state and local education agency grants.  These include:

• $3 billion for subgrants to local schools for school improvement
• $10 billion for formula grants to local education agencies (LEAs)

U.S. Department of Education's Guidance on Title I, Part A ARRA Funds:

On September 3, 2009, the Department issued Guidance on the Use of Title I, Part A and IDEA funds through the ARRA.  The guidance emphasized several points to encourage states to use resources to stimulate and promote reform including:

• Encouraging alignment across funding streams and emphasize the “supplement, not supplant” requirements of the Recovery Act.  
  
• Stressing the importance of the four priorities previously identified in Title I ARRA guidance: standards and assessments, pre-K to college and career data systems, teacher effectiveness and interventions to support the lowest-performing schools, particularly schools with high drop-out rates.
  
• Highlighting priority areas outlined in President Obama’s 2010 budget including early childhood education, struggling readers, improving secondary schools and teacher effectiveness and,
  
• The guidance specifically states that Title I, Part A ARRA funds may be used to support a variety of extended learning time opportunities for both students and teachers consistent with applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, and provides details in this area.   The Department of Education stipulates that Title I, Part A recovery funds should be spent quickly and wisely to help save and create jobs. Grantees should allocate their one-time ARRA funds in ways that can minimize the “funding cliff” when recovery funding expires.
   

Background on Title I & Afterschool - tools and materials about the program as it currently operates, how it has been used to support afterschool, and its administration and application process.

• Find Funding Allocated to Your Local School District
• Fact Sheet on the Title I Program
• Fact Sheet on Using Title I for Supplemental Education Services (Tutoring)
• Using NCLB Funds to Support Extended Learning Time: Opportunities for Afterschool Programs and No Child Left Behind (NCLB):  This brief includes an analysis of Title I and the out-of-school time funding opportunities within the No Child Left Behind Act.  By Ayeola Fortune from The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and Heather Clapp Padgette from The Finance Project, August 2005.
• Big Money for School Improvement: Title I School Improvement Funds Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) and the Fiscal Year 2009 Appropriations: This report from the Center on Education Policy (CEP) outlines how the Title I school improvement funds are distributed to school districts and what types of activities those funds can support.

Make the Case
Use these talking points to show how afterschool programs can help youth succeed in school and in the workforce.

• Support for extended learning--including afterschool, summer and year-long programs--is encouraged by the Department of Educataion. This is a great point to share with your contacts and connections at the State and Local Education Agencies. Read the US Department of Education guidance on use of the Title I ARRA Funds 
• Afterschool programs help boost academic achievement and provide the added value of investing in our future workforce.  Children in afterschool programs do better in school, are more likely to graduate and are exploring pathways to new careers.  Most important, afterschool programs help students who are most at-risk to make the greatest gains academically, socially and behaviorally.  Through hands-on learning, they are developing the critical thinking, leadership and problem solving skills that employers say are vital. 
• Investing in afterschool programs now is a down payment on tomorrow's workforce, and a successful economy.  As U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has said, we need to “educate our way to a better economy.  Use these resources to help make the case tapping Title I to support afterschool programs.
• The Department of Education counsels local education agencies to carefully invest their one-time ARRA funds in ways that will sustainable after the Recovery funds run out.  Advocates can help ARRA grant recipients find solutions to avoid this “funding cliff” by sharing strategies to help programs build capacity, enhance quality and increase access.  Afterschool programs have proven track records at leveraging community resources, including private and public dollars to support long term sustainability.  The recovery funds can play a critical role to help incubate new programs, which can later leverage community resources and be real contenders for future grants from a variety of agencies.

See also:

U.S. Department of Ed's guidance on School Improvement Grants:  The U.S. Dept of Ed has allocated $3 billion from ARRA to fund the Title I, Part A School Improvement Grants program.  Read more about the fund and the Afterschool Alliance's Comments.

Chart of initial ARRA education fund distribution and reporting requirements (from Learning Points Associates).

Evaluations Backgrounder: Academic Impact of Afterschool Programs
Afterschool Fosters Success in School
Afterschool Programs Level the Playing Field for All Youth
Arts and Afterschool: A Powerful Combination
Literacy and Reading in Afterschool Programs
Afterschool and School Improvement
Critical Hours: Afterschool Programs and Educational Success

Questions, Answers and Ideas - Read and share questions and strategies on the Afterschool Alliance’s Economic Recovery Wiki