Afterschool for America's Children Act Introduced in the House

Just hours before President Obama gave his third State of the Union speech, the Afterschool for America's Children Act, HR 3821, was introduced in the House of Representatives. The legislation, a House companion bill to the bipartisan S. 1370 introduced last July in the Senate, would strengthen 21st Century Community Learning Centers by supporting innovation in before-school, afterschool and summer learning programs. Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI), a founding member of the House Afterschool Caucus and Ranking Member of the Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittee, was joined by Reps. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Nita Lowey (D-NY) as original co-sponsors of the bill. At a time when afterschool programs are facing huge financial challenges, the Afterschool for America's Children Act makes a commitment to federal afterschool support, which can be used to leverage state, local, private and philanthropic support. The legislation would:

• Strengthen school-community partnerships to include sharing of data and resources, the ability to better leverage relationships within the community and provide an intentional alignment with the school day.
• Promote professional development and training for afterschool program staff.
• Encourage innovative new ways to engage students in learning that looks different from a traditional school day, with an emphasis on hands-on, experiential learning; science, technology, engineering, and math; social and emotional learning; and physical activity and nutrition education. Supports approaches that focus on individualized learning that provide a variety of ways for students to master core skills and knowledge.
• Provide accountability measures that are connected to college- and career-readiness goals and show student progress over time toward meeting indicators of success including school attendance, grades and on-time grade level advancement.
• Ensure that funding supports programs that utilize evidence-based, successful practices. Increase quality and accountability through parent engagement, better alignment with state learning objectives and coordination between federal, state and local agencies.
• Maintain formula grants to states that then distribute funds to local school-community partnerships through a competitive grant process.

The bill recognizes the significant unmet need for afterschool programs by ensuring that local communities can make a choice about what afterschool programs best meet the needs of its children and families. With the House Education and the Workforce Committee expected to take up ESEA reauthorization legislation this winter, the bill is well-positioned to be part of the discussion. Friends of afterschool programs can contact their Representatives in support of HR 3821 and ask them to co-sponsor the bill.