ESEA day three: Senator Boxer speaks out on 21st CCLC, resource coordinator amendment passes

Day three of the U.S. Senate’s deliberation of S. 1177, the Every Child Achieves Act of 2015 (ECAA) started off with one of the most controversial amendments offered. Amendment #2110, introduced by Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), originally introduced in the Senate as the Academic Partnerships Lead Us to Success Act, would essentially allow states to opt out of federal education regulations and continue to receive federal funds.  The amendment was defeated 54 to 44 by recorded vote. Also known as the A+ amendment, its House companion was defeated earlier in the week prior to final passage of HR 5, The Student Success Act.

Meanwhile, the Senate displayed overwhelming support for community schools, voting 98-0 for Sen. Sherrod Brown’s (D-OH) amendment to make community school site resource coordinators an allowable use of funds for Title IV in ESEA. Sen. Brown’s bipartisan amendment (SA 2099) with Sens. Manchin (D-WV) and Capito (R-WV) prioritizes strong coordination and relationships between schools and community based partners. Sen. Brown is expected to introduce an additional amendment to fund 5 year grants for Full Service Community Schools when ESEA debate resumes next week.

During floor debate, Afterschool Caucus co-chair Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) spoke passionately about afterschool and 21st CCLC, thanking Sens. Murkowski and Murray for their help with the 21st CCLC amendment that passed in Committee mark-up and addressing her commitment over the years to afterschool programming and the need to preserve it as a separate funding stream. While mentioning that currently 11.3 million children are still unsupervised between the hours of 3 and 6 p.m. each day, Sen. Boxer recounted stories of children kept safe and successful through access to afterschool programming as well as the benefits to working parents in having a safe place for their children to go. Sen. Boxer also discussed the strengthening of the 21st CCLC program based on the Afterschool for America’s Children Act which directs programs to complement school-time academic learning. “Our kids don’t stop learning just because the clock strikes two, or three, or four. They keep learning”, Boxer said. “So, the afterschool activities are very important”. (You can listen to Sen. Boxer speak here: July 9th between times 6:39 and 6:45). Her full comments are below:

Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I want to take this time to thank Senators ALEXANDER and MURRAY on the bill that is before our body, the Every Child Achieves Act. It is so important that we focus on this area of education.

Two important provisions I asked to be included have been included in the bill. I want to specifically talk about those and again thank both Senators for including those important initiatives in this important bill.

One of them is the reauthorization of afterschool programs—something I have worked on my entire life in Congress. It goes back a very long time. Another one is on e-cigarettes, which I believe are endangering our Nation’s youth. Senator MURKOWSKI was very instrumental in the committee, working with Senator MURRAY to make sure my bipartisan After School for America’s Children Act was incorporated in the bill. I thank her.

In the Senate, I first introduced my afterschool bill in 1997. I worked with Senator Ensign at that time. The Federal Government at that time only funded small afterschool pilot programs. When we got to 2001, I saw an opportunity to take that pilot program and turn it into a real, funded authorization for afterschool programs. The bill we have on the floor today and next week will modernize that afterschool program. It is the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program, which incorporates afterschool.  It will help States support quality afterschool programs. It encourages parental engagement and involvement and ensures that afterschool activities complement the academic curriculum. Our kids don’t stop learning just because the clock strikes 2 or 3 or 4; they keep learning. So the afterschool activities are very important. Most important to me is that this bill preserves the stream of funding that is necessary to protect the afterschool programs because, to be quite honest, we have had a lot of issues with people trying to grab those funds and use them for something else. Let me tell you why we cannot do that. We now serve more than 1.6 million children of working families every year through this afterschool program. That is progress. Think about 1.6 million children. Think about all of their parents and the relief it brings to them to know they have their children in a quality afterschool program. But there are still 11.3 million children left unsupervised when the day ends. In other words, one in five children is unsupervised from 3 to 6 p.m. Those are the hours where juvenile crime peaks and risky behaviors are most likely to occur. Law enforcement and mayors have been telling us for years that afterschool programs reduce crime. It truly is a no-brainer. Our kids need a safe place to go after school. Our parents need to make sure their kids are safe after school because most parents work in today’s world.

No matter what leading candidates for the Republican nomination say, today my understanding is Jeb Bush said our workers don’t work hard enough. He said that our workers don’t work hard enough. Just talk to the parents of these kids. They are working hard, sometimes multiple jobs. They need to know their kids are safe.

I want to talk about one student, Gerardo Rodriguez, who grew up in poverty in Los Angeles. He dealt with the threat of violence and the allure of gang life. While he was at Carson Middle School, he chose to join an afterschool program that was run by the Boys and Girls Club instead of a gang. Gerardo went to an afterschool program instead of joining a gang. In statistics, he would be told he was likely to be a dropout. Instead, he graduated from Carson High. In 2012, he obtained $3,000 in college scholarships. He is in his second year at California State University, Long Beach, and he is majoring in engineering. We need to save kids like this. Yes, the parents are working hard, many hours, and they need afterschool help. This bill helps those kids. I would like to do more for more children, but I am thankful we are preserving this program. Our working families need to know their kids are safe because there are more than 28 million parents of school-age children who are employed, including 23 million who work full time. These parents miss an average of 5 days of work a year because they don’t have afterschool care and their child gets sick. We all know that. We have all gone through that. Our children have gone through that. So it was 30 years ago when I started to work on this issue. I again thank Senators ALEXANDER and MURRAY for preserving afterschool care for our children.

Sen. Franken (D-MN), who also worked on the amendment, pointed to the strong outcomes from 21st CCLC afterschool and summer learning programs in the state of Minnesota, stating “there are over one hundred 21st Century Community Learning Centers across Minnesota, and these centers provide high-quality afterschool activities to help address the physical, social, emotional, and academic needs of the students they serve.”

The Senate will next convene on Monday afternoon at 5:30 p.m. Chairman Alexander asked that votes be taken at that time on Sen. Orrin Hatch’s (R-UT) amendment #2080 which would require a committee be formed to look at the federal role in data privacy along with a vote on Sen. Tim Kaine’s (D-VA) amendment (# 2118) to ensure State accountability systems verify that students are ready to enter postsecondary education.

Afterschool supporters can continue reaching out to Senators in support of afterschool and summer learning programs strengthened in the Every Child Achieves Act.