Guest Viewpoint: After-school revolution threatened by budget cuts

5/6/03 -- Over the past 10 years, American education has witnessed a quiet revolution: the proliferation of after-school programs that engage children in adult-supervised activities that are both educational and fun.

School systems and community groups have recognized the growing demand for high-quality programs that provide adult supervision for children during the sometimes dangerous hours immediately following the school day, while at the same time helping them learn and relieving working parents of worries about childcare.

The National Center for Juvenile Justice reports that children are more likely to engage in crime, substance abuse, and sexual activities in the hours after school, and particularly between 3 and 4 p.m.

So it is not surprising that support for after-school programs has come from many quarters, including educators, youth development experts, law enforcement officials, prosecutors, working families, and lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle.

The wisdom of their support for after-school programs has been affirmed. A variety of respected studies -- some by academics at research universities and others by independent research firms -- has confirmed the value of after-school programs.

Generally speaking, researchers conclude that children who participate in after-school programs have better school attendance, improved grades and test scores in core academic subjects, and fewer behavior problems.

Not surprisingly, studies also find that parents of children in after-school programs are enthusiastic about these programs. Some studies have found after-school programs contribute to improved parent involvement.

And students consistently say they appreciate spending time with mentors who can help them with homework, talk through their problems, and inspire them to learn.

Of course, support for after-school programs goes well beyond families with participating children. Nearly three-quarters of American voters regard them as "an absolute necessity," according to a 2002 poll conducted by Lake Snell Perry & Associates and the Tarrance Group for the Afterschool Alliance.

During the Clinton Administration, that widespread support drove a fast-growing investment in federal funding for after-school programs.

Begun as a small pilot effort in the mid-1990s, the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program is now a $1 billion program, serving approximately 1.5 million children in every state.

At least initially, the 21st CCLC program was embraced by the Bush Administration. The program was a key component of the President's No Child Left Behind Act, which laid out a roadmap for further funding increases -- authorizing $1.75 billion for the 21st CCLC program in fiscal year 2004.

But funding authorizations aren't the same as funding appropriations, as the Administration demonstrated in February when it proposed authorizing only $600 million, a 40 percent cut from current levels.

What changed between January of 2002 when the President signed the No Child Left Behind Act and February of 2003? The Department of Education says it proposed cutting the budget because "the program needs some time to address disappointing initial findings from a rigorous evaluation."

The evaluator, Mathematica Policy Research Inc., focused much of its research on academic achievement even though, at the time, grantees were not required to make academics a focus of their programming.

That notwithstanding, the study concluded that the programs produced no significant academic gains overall -- a finding sharply at odds with years of research on after-school programs, particularly those for which academic achievement was a priority.

The researchers did find that after-school programs produced significant academic gains for African Americans, Hispanics, and girls. And these programs increased parental participation by as much as 40 percent by one measure. But the department mentioned those findings only in passing.

Yet, despite flaws in the study and growing controversy around it, the Administration made it the sole justification for the proposed cut. The rationale is difficult for after-school providers and advocates to take at face value, knowing as we do the difference that after-school programs make every day for children, families, and communities.

The reality is that after-school programs are a key to children's success, and the Administration's proposed budget cut would effectively lock half a million children out of them.

Meanwhile, in the face of painful deficits, a number of states are cutting their after-school funding as well, subjecting programs to what could for many prove to be a fatal one-two punch.

Already, there are reports that programs are likely to close, from South Carolina to Alaska, and many states in between. Not surprisingly, communities across the country are expressing grave concern.

At the federal level, at least, the die is not yet cast. It remains to be seen if Congress will accept the President's proposal.