Full funding in FY 2003 for 21^st Century Community Learning Centers (21^st CCLCs) is essential.

·         When the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), “No Child Left Behind” Federal law was passed by Congress and signed by President Bush, it said that  21^st CCLCs  should receive $1.25 billion in FY 2002, yet only $1 billion was actually put in the budget. President Bush’s latest budget for FY2003 requests only $1 billion, NO INCREASE in funding even though the law says there should be one.   Congress needs to budget the full amount in the law of  $1.5 billion for the 2003 fiscal year.

·         Nearly 340,000 children will be left behind and kept from a space in a quality after-school program if President Bush's budget to fund 21stCCLCs at exactly the same level this year as last year.

·         The demand for after-school program funding far exceeds supply. In FY 2001, communities applied for $1.9 billion in 21^st CCLCenters grants, but only $206 million was available to fulfill those requests. It is critical that policy makers act now to restore full funding and end the dangerous trend of underfunding after-school programs.

·         In Florida alone, in 2001, applications totaled over $56 million.  Yet only $3 million was funded.  Of 74 applications, only ten could be funded. Pinellas County’s application for $1.7 million was not among them.

21^st Century Community Learning Centers support the nation's goal to "leave no child behind" when it comes to education.  The need for 21^st CCLCs in southern Pinellas County is intense.

·         21^st CCLC funds target economically disadvantaged families.  In Pinellas County, more than 39,000 public school students qualify for the free and reduced lunch program.  68% of  those families live in the southern half of the county.

·         21^st CCLC funds target low-achieving students with best-practices programs for academic remediation.  Sixty-two percent of students on free and reduced lunch programs scored below level 3 on the 1999 FCAT tests compared with 41% in Pinellas County and 51% in Florida.  On the math test, percentages of children scoring below 3 were as follows: 59% for free and reduced lunch; 39% for Pinellas County; and 50% statewide.

·         21^st CCLCs programs offer services for drug and violence prevention, character education, and family counseling in addition to art, music, recreation, and technology enrichment.  In Pinellas County (Pinellas Profile, 2000) alcohol consumption for 8^th graders was 39.6% (national results – 24%) and marijuana use was 18% (national results – 9.7%.)  Arrest records for the juveniles in Pinellas County for 1998 were 122.5/1000 compared to state results of 90.9/1000 and county adult rates of 51/1000.

Voters believe the nation should be committed to ensuring every child has access to a quality afterschool program, and agree that tax dollars should be directed to afterschool.

·         Almost nine out of ten voters agree there should be a national commitment to ensuring that every child has a space in an after-school program.*

·         Nearly seven out of ten voters, including conservatives, fundamentalist Christians and older Republicans, still agree there should be a national commitment even if spending on afterschool increased by $800 million per year.*

21^st Century Community Learning Centers do not exist in isolation; they address timely issues of national concern including safety, education and economic security.

·         Eight out of ten voters believe kids will be safer in afterschool programs.*

·         Eight out of ten voters believe youth will be exposed to more creative activities and get the chance to learn and master new skills by participating in afterschool programs.*

·         Eight out of ten voters believe that stress will be reduced for working families if more afterschool programs are available in communities.*

21^st Century Community Learning Centers afterschool programs engage the community.

·         On average most Centers partner with six community organizations to provide services, share practices, provide volunteers and staff, and plan program sustainability. 

Voters consistently support afterschool in high numbers and across party affiliation, gender, race and geographic region.

·         Since 1998, more than nine out of ten Americans have believed there is a need for some type of organized activity after school.

·         Virtually the same level of support for afterschool exists among Democrats (96%) and Republicans (93%).

·          July/August 2001 Mott Foundation/JCPenney Afterschool Nationwide Survey on Afterschool Programs, Afterschool Alliance, 2001.

For more information on the need for after school programs in Pinellas County, contact the Suncoast AfterSchool Alliance at (727) 895-2491