Latest news with #AfterschoolAlliance
India Today
02-07-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Over $6 billion in US after-school literacy grants withheld by Trump administration
The Trump administration has placed a hold on more than $6 billion in federal education funding, leaving thousands of schools, day camps, and community organisations uncertain about the future of their programmes. The freeze affects grants designated for after-school and summer programmes, English language learning, adult education, teacher training, and to officials, the funding pause is part of a review process to ensure that the grants align with President Trump's policy priorities. However, the delay—announced just before the July 1 disbursement deadline—has alarmed educators, parents, and no timeline given for when or if the funds will be released, schools and nonprofits are scrambling to plan for the upcoming academic year and to keep ongoing summer activities afloat. Organisations like the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, which depend on these grants to serve low-income families, warn that programs may be forced to shut down mid-season. 'If these funds are blocked, the fallout will be swift and devastating,' said Jim Clark, the group's president. As many as 926 club sites could be at risk of closure, impacting more than 220,000 Alabama's Gadsden City Schools, officials say they will be forced to cancel their after-school programmes for over 1,200 students unless the funding resumes. 'We have no alternative to make up for the loss,' said Janie Browning, director of the programme. She emphasised that these programmes provide more than supervision—they keep children safe and offer critical academic and emotional support while parents funding freeze has drawn sharp criticism from Democrats. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) urged the administration to release the money, stating that every day of delay puts school districts in a position where they must consider layoffs and cutbacks rather than student AT STAKE?The grants under review include:21st Century Community Learning Centres: The primary federal funding source for after-school and summer learning, supporting over 10,000 programs across the country.$2 billion for professional development and class-size reduction for teachers$1 billion for academic enrichment, such as science, math, and accelerated learning$890 million for English language learners$376 million to support education for children of migrant workers$715 million for adult literacy initiativesThese programmes represent more than 20% of federal K–12 education funding in the District of Columbia, according to the Learning Policy Institute. In large states like California and Texas, hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding are now in fear that this freeze is a precursor to eliminating the programs altogether, as Trump's proposed 2026 budget seeks to eliminate many of these grants like Jodi Grant of the Afterschool Alliance warn that the freeze could have long-lasting consequences, not only for families but also for the broader economy. 'Withholding these funds jeopardises learning, employment, and essential support systems for communities across the country,' she of now, the Department of Education maintains that no final decisions have been made, and questions have been referred to the Office of Management and Budget, which has yet to respond. Meanwhile, schools and families continue to wait, facing increasing uncertainty and the potential collapse of vital support services.(With AP inputs)- EndsMust Watch
New York Times
01-07-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Trump Withholds Nearly $7 Billion for Schools, With Little Explanation
The Trump administration has declined to release nearly $7 billion in federal funding that helps pay for after-school and summer programs, support for students learning English, teacher training and other services. The money was expected to be released by Tuesday. But in an email on Monday, the Education Department notified state education agencies that the money would not be available. The administration offered little explanation, saying only that the funds were under review. It gave no timeline for when, or if, the money would be released, saying instead that it was 'committed to ensuring taxpayer resources are spent in accordance with the president's priorities.' The frozen funds are unrelated to the millions of dollars in cuts included in the domestic policy bill that squeaked through the Senate on Tuesday. 'It's catastrophic,' said Jodi Grant, executive director of the Afterschool Alliance, a group that works to expand after-school services for students. She estimated that the federal dollars for after-school and summer-school programs — about $1.3 billion annually — support 1.4 million students, mostly lower income, representing about 20 percent of all students in after-school programs nationally. The move is likely to be challenged in court and has already been criticized as illegal by Democrats and teachers' unions, who emphasized that the money had been appropriated by Congress and was approved by President Trump in March as part of a broader funding bill. 'This is lawless,' said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. The administration has taken an aggressive approach to cutting back the federal government's role in education, including plans to eliminate the Education Department entirely. Though only Congress can abolish the department, the Trump administration has taken an ax to education staffing and funding more broadly as it seeks to whittle down the department. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Axios
13-06-2025
- Business
- Axios
Best Austin day ever with Andy Roddick Foundation CEO
With summer's start, things have heated up with the Austin-based Andy Roddick Foundation and its CEO, Jaime Garcia. Why it matters: The foundation tries to address the opportunity gap by running after-school and summer camps for kids in poorer communities around Austin. "Those that can fund it are giving their kids more and more experiences, and those that can't are just falling behind during the summer, and they're having to relearn their math and reading all over again," Garcia tells Axios. By the numbers: Last year, 220 children from Harris, Hart and Pecan Springs elementary schools — in East and Northeast Austin — attended the foundation summer camps. The chief aim of the camps is to keep up and improve academic skills with 6-to-1 student-to-teacher ratios. "That's like a private school experience," she says, noting outings to museums and spelunking activities at caves. "The two biggest barriers for any child attending after-school and summer care are cost and access." Threat level: President Trump's proposed budget for fiscal year 2026 would zero out funding for 21st Century Community Learning Centers, the only federal funding stream dedicated to afterschool and summer programs, per the Afterschool Alliance, a nonprofit that advocates for access to afterschool programs. As part of our running feature asking Austinites about their best day ever, we met up with Garcia to talk about her ideal day. Garcia grew up in Houston and came to Austin to attend the University of Texas, where she majored in biology before getting a master's degree in business at Texas State. She and her husband have raised two daughters in southwest Austin. This interview has been edited for clarity. How does your ideal day begin? "I love meeting our foundation partners at Mozart's and ask how I can support them. Or I go for one-on-ones around the lake, where I find peace and where I love to run — I've run four marathons." What's next? "I'm probably hosting a summer tour — it's important for corporations to come through and see the work that's being done. Closing that learning gap means working together. They might see a teacher working on a STEM project with kids. Or how we bring in roller skates and entire kits — how it's tough at first, but how they get the hang of it by week two." What are you doing for lunch? "I might meet at the Grove with a supporter of the foundation. They make a great kale salad." You're meeting with families, too? "I love the foundation's family nights — we'll serve pizza to the kids and their families at one of the schools, and they can do something like create art together. And we always have middle schoolers and high schoolers who have been through the program who rush in — they love helping out." And what about you and your family? "We try to get dinner together. If we're going out, we love Cabo Bob's." "I grew up in a family where my mom made tortillas every single day of my life. We didn't even use forks because we used tortillas to eat our food. So I'm very picky going into a restaurant — if it's store-bought, it doesn't work for me. Hence Cabo Bob's — they've got homemade tortillas — and they're fun, too."
Axios
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Education Department cuts threaten summer learning programs
Uncertainty over Education Department funding won't go on vacation when the school year ends because the cuts also threaten vital summer learning programs. The big picture: Summer learning programs are essential for kids and working parents alike because federally-funded programs offer enrichment, academic support, social interaction and basic needs, like access to healthy food. "For every child that's in a program, there's a parent of at least one more that wants their kid to be in a program, but they don't have access," Afterschool Alliance Executive Director Jodi Grant said. Her group anticipates an "an even larger shortage of summer learning." Driving the news: Organizers are "very uncertain and anxious" about hosting summer programs while facing upheaval at the Education Department and broad spending cuts, Grant said. While the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program — a critical funding stream that supports summer, afterschool and before-school programs — remains intact, the first Trump administration repeatedly pushed to eliminate it. "I'm worried that when it comes to cuts, unless we have a separate funding stream that explicitly goes to afterschool and summer, those programs get cut before any other education programs," Grant said. Zoom out: The Education Department's halt to pandemic aid reimbursement extensions approved by the Biden administration is already hitting summer and afterschool programs. Education Secretary Linda McMahon alerted state education chiefs in a March 28 letter that the previously prolonged spending period would end that evening, but individual projects may get extensions. Department spokesperson Madi Biedermann called the Biden administration's decision to extend the spending deadline "an irresponsible precedent" in a statement to Axios. She said extensions would be considered "on an individual project-specific basis where it can be demonstrated that funds are being used to directly mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on student learning." Zoom in: For Baltimore City Schools, that meant it would lose around $48 million in reimbursements for funds spent or committed, it said. As a result, it halted tutoring and after-school programs that were funded with pandemic money. The "catastrophic" end to reimbursements, Maryland officials said, jeopardizes more than $400 million for the state's schools and education department. What they're saying: In Baltimore, an estimated 12,000 seats will be lost for summer opportunities this year compared to last year, said Ellie Mitchell, director of the Maryland Out of School Time Network. And it's not just in Baltimore where the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund clawback is being felt, she said, with several districts "saying no summer programs at all." Even with potential extensions on a program-by-program basis, Mitchell said that without funding in place by Memorial Day, "there's just no way we will recover this summer." Dismantling the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps — who often work as camp counselors — will further disrupt summer programs, she noted. "The environment is retrenchment, so everyone is just trying to protect the spaces that they can and being incredibly cautious and conservative about where they are spending money," Mitchell added. In South Dakota, changes in federal funding caused the cancellation of career exploration summer programs hosted on college campuses throughout the state. According to the South Dakota Board of Regents, the program served 1,800 students from 2022 to 2024. The bottom line:"Administrators are holding a lot on their shoulders right now," said Billy Mawhiney, the executive director of the South Dakota Afterschool Network.
