On June 9th, Governor Jerry Brown and the California Legislature came to an agreement on the state budget for the next fiscal year. Despite the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education proposing a $73 million increase and the Senate Budget Subcommittee 1 proposing a Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for the After School Education and Safety (ASES) program; the budget compromise between the Governor and the legislature does not include an increase to ASES. After school advocates sought a $73 million to increase the funding rate from $7.50 to $8.50 per student, per day to provide critical relief to programs at risk of closing due to flat funding. The budget agreement includes increases for child care, early education, and K-12 education. In a recent edsource article, Jennifer Peck, Executive Director of the Partnership for Children and Youth outlined, “The Governor and other leaders have failed to see that nothing else we do in our education system to level the playing field for our most underserved students will be effective, if we don’t provide learning opportunities during the hours after school and in the summer.” The legislature will vote next week on the budget plan that starts July 1, 2016.

The National Summer Learning Association is holding their annual advocacy day on July 14, 2016. National Summer Learning Day is led by the National Summer Learning Association to elevate the importance of keeping kids learning, safe and healthy every summer. Many kinds of high-quality learning opportunities during the summer can make a difference in stemming learning loss and ultimately, closing the country’s achievement gap. Our first lady, Michelle Obama, reminds us how important the summer months are to kids. Up to 3 months worth of knowledge from the previous school year could be lost during the summer months if kids are not engaged in acquiring new skills, activities, and/or reading. “Don’t let summers go to waste!” Learn more about hosting a Summer Learning Day event or to take the pledge. 

The Wallace Foundation released the study Expanded Schools National Demonstration: Lesson for Scale and Sustainability. The study offers recommendations based on the experiences of 10 schools that employed the ExpandED model that changes the use of time by strategically adding time to the school day, enhancing skills and knowledge by engaging students in enrichment opportunities beyond core academics. The ExpandED school model seeks to use partnerships between public schools, community organizations and intermediary organizations to increase those enrichment activities. Researchers studied the use of this model in 10 schools in three cities, New York City, Baltimore and New Orleans over four years. The study identifies the parts of the model that were easiest for schools to implement and parts that were the most challenging.

The California AfterSchool Network is now connecting expanding learning programs and job seekers. Job openings can be for any level of an out-of-school time program or organization serving youth. Visit our website to post a current job opportunity or check out our job listings today.