By Shannon Holmes
August 30, 2004

During the school year millions of American youth are alone and unsupervised in the hours after school, before parents return home from work. This situation places children and teens at risk for juvenile crime, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, and other problems. Students are wasting precious time when they could be learning. And it leaves millions of working parents worried about their children when they should be focused on their jobs.

Individuals and organizations across this nation are coming together to advance universal access to afterschool. Last year The Afterschool Alliance formed Partners of Afterschool for All: Project 2010 in order to unify support for afterschool programming. The partnership now has over 400 partners that include mayors, educators, youth, youth advocates, policy makers, faith-based leaders, parents, business leaders, police chiefs, prosecutors, entertainers, and others who recognize that afterschool and out-of-school time programs are a necessity for youth, families and cities.

Project 2010 has one mission: — to ensure that all children and youth have access to quality, safe and enriching afterschool programs by the year 2010.

Various studies, including a survey conducted by The U.S. Conference of Mayors in 2003 of 86 cities, found that demand for afterschool programming across the country far outweighs the availability. According to the Rose Institute, for every dollar invested in after school programs, taxpayers saved three dollars.

Mayors across the country have taken a leadership role in their cities to establish and expand afterschool and out-of-school time programs because they understand the implications for their city. So far The U.S. Conference of Mayors and 65 mayors are among 400 national groups and individual leaders that have signed on as partners in support of Project 2010.

Mayors who have signed on as partners for Project 2010 are:

Mayor Jerry E. Abramson, Louisville, KY
Mayor Irma L. Anderson, Richmond, CA
Mayor Ross C. Anderson, Salt Lake City, UT
Mayor Alan M. Arakawa, County of Maui, HI
Mayor Mark Asmundson, Bellingham, WA
Mayor Alan Autry, Fresno, CA
Mayor Robert A. Baines, Manchester, NH
Mayor James M. Baker, Wilmington, DE
Mayor Kay Barnes, Kansas City, MO
Mayor Tom Bates, Berkeley, CA
Mayor Mark Begich, Anchorage, AK
Mayor William V. Bell, Durham, NC
Mayor Tony Benavides, Lansing, MI
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, New York, NY
Mayor J. Christian Bollwage, Elizabeth, NJ
Mayor Jane L. Campbell, Cleveland, OH
Mayor David N. Cicilline, Providence, RI
Mayor Michael B. Coleman, Columbus, OH
Mayor Daniel Coody, Fayetteville, AR
Mayor Jim Dailey, Little Rock, AR
Mayor Heidi Davison, Athens, GA
Mayor John DeStefano, Jr., New Haven, CT
Mayor Manuel Diaz, Miami, FL
Mayor Buddy Dyer, Orlando, FL
Mayor Dalton S. Edge, Chesapeake, VA
Mayor John M. Fabrizi, Bridgeport, CT
Mayor Elizabeth G. Flores, Laredo, TX
Mayor Paul D. Fraim, Norfolk, VA
Mayor Lois J. Frankel, West Palm Beach, FL
Mayor Shirley Franklin, Atlanta GA
Mayor James A. Garner — Hempstead, NY
Mayor Edward D. Garza, San Antonio, TX
Mayor Oscar B. Goodman, Las Vegas, NV
Mayor Ron Gonzales, San Jose, CA
Mayor Michael A. Guido, Dearborn, MI
Mayor James K. Hahn, Los Angeles, CA
Mayor Patrick Henry Hayes, N. Little Rock, AR
Mayor George Heartwell, Grand Rapids, MI
Mayor Keith P. Hightower, Shreveport, LA
Mayor Keith A. Holliday, Greensboro, NC
Mayor Fred Homer, Laramie, WY
Mayor Judith H. Jacobson — Butte, MT
Mayor Gerald D. Jennings, Albany, NY
Mayor Beverly Johnson, Alameda, CA
Mayor William A. Johnson, Jr., Rochester, NY
Mayor Richard J. Kaplan, Lauderhill, FL
Mayor Vera Katz, Portland, OR
Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick, Detroit, MI
Mayor Scott King, Gary, IN
Edward I. Koch, New York, NY (1978-1989)
Mayor Dannel P. Malloy, Stamford, CT
Mayor Anthony M. Masiello, Buffalo, NY
Mayor Patrick McCrory, Charlotte, NC
Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Boston, MA
Mayor Mike Moncrief, Forth Worth, TX
Mayor Ellen O. Moyer, Annapolis, MD
Mayor Arlene J. Mulder, Arlington Heights, IL
Mayor Richard Murphy, San Diego, CA
Mayor Thomas J. Murphy, Pittsburgh, PA
Mayor Chuck Oberlie, Michigan City, IN
Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf, VA Beach, VA
Mayor Martin O'Malley, Baltimore, MD
Mayor Beverly O'Neill, Long Beach, CA
Mayor John Payton — Jacksonville, FL
Mayor Part Peterson, Indianapolis, IN
Mayor Donald L. Plusquellic, Akron, OH
Mayor Gary A. Podesto, Stockton, CA
Mayor Stephen R. Reed, Harrisburg, PA
Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr., Charleston, SC
Mayor Lionel Rivera, Colorado Springs, CO
Mayor Douglas P. Scott, Rockford, IL
Mayor Coleen L. Seng, Lincoln, NE
Mayor Wayne Smith, Irvington, NJ
Mayor John F. Street, Philadelphia, PA
Mayor Michael A. Sullivan, Cambridge, MA
Mayor Charles F. Tooley, Billings, MT
Mayor Jose Torres — Paterson, NJ
Mayor Shelia Young, San Leandro, CA

First Lady of Chicago Maggie Daley
Philadelphia First Lady Naomi Post Street

Showing their commitment to and support of afterschool programming, First Lady of Chicago Maggie Daley and Philadelphia First Lady Naomi Post Street have also signed onto Project 2010.

Mayors interested in signing on as a partner to Afterschool For All: Project 2010, should contact Shannon Holmes at (202) 861-6728 or sholmes@usmayors.org. Further information can also be obtained about the initiative on its website — www.afterschool2010.org.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors' policy endorses Project 2010 and supports an increased national investment in afterschool and out-of-school time programming, because of its vital importance to the education, recreation, and youth development in cities across the country. Federal funding for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (afterschool program) under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has been at a $1 billion level for several years even though the program is authorized to receive an appropriation of $2 billion.