Updated: The afterschool and summer learning perspective on the president's 2015 budget

Today Pres. Obama released his budget request for the upcoming 2015 fiscal year, which begins this October.  With regard to support for the 21^st Century Community Learning Centers (21^st CCLC) initiative, the president requested $1.149 billion—reflecting the same level for 21^stCCLC as was in the FY2014 omnibus bill that passed in January. As was the case in his budget request last year, the president proposes to radically change 21^st CCLC to a competitive grant at the federal level as well as to prioritize 21^st CCLC grant funding for new purposes including adding time to the traditional school day or year, and for teacher planning and professional development.

According to the discussion of the budget request for the Department of Education:

Funds would support competitive grants to states, local education agencies, nonprofit organizations, or local governmental entities for projects that provide the additional time, support, and enrichment activities needed to improve student achievement, including projects that support expanding learning time by significantly increasing the number of hours in a regular school schedule and by comprehensively redesigning the school schedule for all students in a school. Projects could also provide teachers the time they need to collaborate, plan, and engage in professional development within and across grades and subjects.

Additional budget justification provides more detail on the proposal.  Note that this proposal reflects the president’s request for how funds should be allocated and does not carry the weight of law.  The Senate and House are expected to begin their FY2015 appropriations process later this month.  

The Afterschool Alliance supports 21^st CCLC funds being directed by formula to all states to in turn support high-quality afterschool, before-school and summer learning programs that focus on hands-on, engaged learning that complements and enhances but does not replicate the traditional school day.  While not mentioned in the education budget document, the Afterschool Alliance feels strongly that 21^st CCLC funding should continue to support the partnerships between schools and community-based organizations that help children improve academically, socially and behaviorally while parents are at work.  21^st CCLC currently works through competitions at the state level to ensure quality programs are funded; however changing the program as proposed by the president to a national competition will likely result in states and communities that do not have access to these important funds for afterschool and summer learning programs. Furthermore, while adding time to the school day or year has yielded positive results under particular circumstances, such programs would be better served by a separate funding stream. For more information on expanded learning, see our expanded learning resource page.

Additional Education Department funding that supports afterschool and summer includes $14.4 billion (level with FY2014) for Title I and $100 million for Promise Neighborhoods. The Successful, Safe and Healthy Students program would consolidate safe and drug free schools activities as well as school counseling and the Physical Education Program into one $214 million program. The Department of Education’s budget summary is online.

Other budget news for the afterschool community:

High School Redesign

The budget provides $150 million for a new program to redesign high schools to focus on providing students with challenging, relevant learning experiences, and reward schools that build new partnerships with colleges, employers, and other partners to enhance instruction and to help develop the knowledge and skills students need for success in today’s economy.

Race to the Top for Equity and Opportunity

The budget also proposes a new $300 million Race to the Top (RTT) grant competition that would “drive comprehensive change in how states and districts identify and close opportunity and achievement gaps,” according to the Education Department. Grants would enhance data systems to sharpen the focus on the greatest disparities and invest in strong teachers and leaders in high-need schools. Among the interventions the new RTT could fund are strategies that mitigate the effects of concentrated poverty, such as expanded learning time, access to rigorous coursework, and comprehensive student supports. An underlying goal is to measure the success of these strategies and use the results to support continuous program improvement.

National Service

Overall, the president’s budget requests $1.05 billion for the Corporation for National and Community Service and its programs, which is slightly above the FY2014 enacted level. The budget funds a record 114,000 AmeriCorps members and provides new benefits to seniors who serve through AmeriCorps. This number includes an estimated 75,000 AmeriCorps state and national members (an increase of 4,000 from this year); 30,000 members who will transition from the Foster Grandparent and Senior Companion Programs; 7,800 AmeriCorps VISTA members; and 1,200 AmeriCorps NCCC members.   

Child Care Development Fund (CCDF)

The budget includes an $807 million increase for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG)—up from a proposed increase of $700 million last year.  For the increase, $57 million is discretionary funding and $750 million is mandatory funding. The discretionary funds include funds available to states by formula to increase child care quality.

Community Service Block Grant (CSBG)

The budget cuts funding for CSBG by almost half, providing just $350 million for FY2015. The budget proposes to use a competition to target the funds to high-performing agencies that are most successful in meeting important community needs.

Juvenile Justice

The budget renews efforts to promote juvenile justice and prevent youth violence. The budget provides $308 million for the Department of Justice's juvenile justice programs and includes evidence-based investments to prevent youth violence, including $16 million to fund the Community-Based Violence Prevention Initiative to provide grants to replicate successful community-based interventions to control shootings and other serious gang violence, and $4 million for the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention, which provides assistance for selected communities across the nation to develop and implement youth violence strategies. The budget also includes $9 million for the Juvenile Justice Realignment Incentive Grants, which, in tandem with the $28 million proposed for Juvenile Accountability Block Grants, will assist states that are pursuing evidence-based juvenile justice system alignment to foster better outcomes for young people, less costly use of incarceration and increased public safety. The proposal includes several positives, including the restoration of JABG funding, which was eliminated in the final FY2014 budget.  Further, the budget proposes $53 million for the Youth Mentoring Initiative, a cut from the $82 million appropriated in 2014.

The budget proposes a comprehensive reor­ganization of STEM education programs to increase the impact of federal investments in four areas: K-12 instruc­tion, undergraduate education, graduate fellowships, and education activities that typically take place outside the classroom—all with a focus on increasing participation and opportunities for individuals from groups histori­cally underrepresented in these fields. The new STEM Innovation program has a proposed funding level of $320 million. Further details should become available on the impact on afterschool STEM education programs funded by science mission agencies such as NASA in the proposed STEM education re-organization plans. 

Take Action!

The budget request now goes to Congress, where budget and appropriations deliberations for FY2015 are getting underway.  House and Senate appropriations committees are holding hearings in the coming weeks to hear details of the education budget request from Sec. Duncan.  Friends of afterschool programs can contact their Members of Congress to express support for 21^st CCLC and federal funding for afterschool programs.