By Shannon Holmes
March 3, 2003

In an era when most parents work, many Americans want their children to have access to safe and supervised After-School activities that can help develop academic, personal, and social skills. In 1994, Congress authorized the 21st-Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program to open up schools for broader use by their communities. As an After-School program, 21st CCLC, grew quickly from an appropriation of $40 million in fiscal year 1998 to $1 billion in fiscal year 2002 as a result of the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. It now supports After-School programs in about 7,500 rural and inner-city public schools in more than 1,400 communities.

Since the beginning, mayors have been supportive of the program. They have recognized that quality After-School programs have enormous potential to help children succeed in school, contribute to positive youth development, prevent risky and criminal behaviors, and enable working families to know their children are safe and well cared for.

With grant funding from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, The United States Conference of Mayors through several activities has been able to further stress the importance of the After-School programming. These activities include a survey on After-School programs in cities across the country; the release of a report on the surveys findings, After-School Programs In Cities Across the United States; a workshop at the 71st Annual Winter Meeting of the Conference in Washington, Mayors Take the Lead on After-School; and the recording of a public service announcement on the importance of After-School programs and helping kids find the "hero within."

Leanring Centers Program Cut

Simultaneous to the release of the report by Mathematica Policy Research, President Bush released his requests for the 2004 fiscal budget, which included slashing the funding for the 21st CCLC by 40 percent. The limited released study of seven elementary and ten middle schools by Mathematica determined that the Department of Education's 21st CCLC program needs to be better aligned with the accountability and research principles of the No Child Left Behind Act, and was used by the Administration to justify the $400 million decrease in funding. These cuts, if approved by Congress, will end up denying more than 570,000 children After-School programs across the country in places where it is most needed. This deep, unprecedented cut represents a betrayal by President Bush's promise to leave no child behind and to support working families in this country. Based on the one-year data, the report states that little gains were made at the sites studied.

Experts have warned the Administration that this study is too early in the program to base any solid evaluation of the effectiveness of the program and cuts would have harmful effects on children across the country. Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said, "It is a tragic mistake to slash spending for After-School programs and cut off hundreds of thousands of kids from adult supervision during the prime time for juvenile crime."

Academic Impact

A closer look at the report reveals that the Department of Education failed to highlight several positive findings. Despite low attendance in the limited sites studied, there was significant academic impact. African American and Hispanic students were absent and tardy less often, made higher math and reading scores, and demonstrated increased classroom participation. Furthermore, girls in 21st CCLC programs showed significant gains in mathematics and in class participation, two areas that have long worried educators.

Even though Mathematica overshadowed the importance of increased parental involvement within the schools in the study, student participation in After-School programs produced greater involvement by parents of these students by as much as 40 percent in some areas. Advocates suggest that this program design is yielding important benefits for all involved. Parental involvement has long been regarded as one of the keys to improved academic performance, and After-School programs around the country typically work to bring parents and other adults into the school building during after school hours.

At the time that Mathematica's report was released, other independent studies already existed stating that After-School programs keep children safe, improve academic achievement and help working families. When children are in constructive environments under adult supervision during the after school hours they are less apt to become involved in drugs or criminal action. "A criminal is created long before his first crime and keeping him involved in activities during high risk hours after school helps to deter from becoming involved in criminal behavior," stated Fresno Mayor Alan Autry during the Mayors Leading the Way on After-School workshop as part of The U.S. Conference of Mayors 71st Annual Winter Meeting. Despite the fact that the study emphasized negative developmental outcomes, nearly two-thirds of the participants reported that they had learned about helping others, felt more confident about their schoolwork, and more comfortable with kids different than themselves.

Furthermore, the study indicated that grantees generally had succeeded in implementing their planned programs and in gaining support from and creating working relationships with school principals and teachers. Most programs provided academic, enrichment, and recreation activities, with homework help being the most common academic activity. The mix across the three activity areas varied according to locally determined needs and preferences. The federal grant and other funding sources enabled programs to spend about $1,000 for each student enrolled during the school year, equivalent to about a 16 percent increase in education spending.

The first-year findings reveal that while 21st CCLC changed where and with whom students spent some of their After-School time and increased parental involvement, they had limited influence on academic performance, no influence on feelings of safety or on the number of "latchkey" children and some negative influences on behavior. In addition, the report further stated that attendance in the programs was low, averaging less than two days a week, despite the fact that programs typically were available to participants four to five days a week. Programs also did not collaborate much with other community organizations. In general, centers contracted with community agencies to provide specific After-School sessions rather than as partners with shared governance or combined operations. Programs also were slow to begin planning to sustain themselves after the 21st CCLC grant ends. Even among those grantees within months of their grant's end, sustainability planning was almost nonexistent.

After-School programs through the 21st CCLC are an important and vital part of children's lives across the country. The program was designed to provide safe, enriching environments for students after school and to help working families. The need for effective fully funded After-School programs needs to be addressed by all adults, not just mayors.

For more information about After-School programming contact Shannon Holmes of the Conference staff at (202) 293-7330 or sholmes@usmayors.org. You may also obtain information from the Conference website at usmayors.org/uscm/uscm_projects_services/education/afterschool.asp or the After-School Alliance website at afterschoolalliance.org.

For more information about the Mathematica study please visit the Department of Education website at www.ed.gov/pubs/21cent/firstyear/.