To ensure the state’s vision for expanded learning succeeds now and in the future, the existing challenges must be addressed.

We are grateful for California’s historic commitment and investment in expanded learning opportunities (afterschool and summer programs) that provide safe spaces for students and improve their school attendance, grades, graduation rates, and support their social development. However, as proposed, the state is not on target to adequately fund and implement these programs. To ensure programs have enough funding to support the workforce and deliver the high-quality programming that students need and deserve now, and to expand access to serve more students, the following actions must be taken:

Research shows that a quality afterschool program costs between $14.40 and $40.95 per student per day (depending on the region). Existing programs, After School Education and Safety (ASES) programs and 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) programs, receive only $10.18 per student per day in state or federal funding. Higher daily rates (funding per student) are needed to recruit, train, and retain the critical workforce for afterschool and summer programs, which includes teachers, paraprofessionals, and community partners. Most programs are not back to pre-pandemic staffing levels and do not have enough staff to serve more students through the expanded day and year. With fixed student-to-staff ratios, programs have no choice but to reduce the number of students served if they do not have enough staff. Additionally, it is challenging to build the positive student-staff relationships that help students thrive if there is a lot of turnover. Programs had trouble recruiting and retaining staff before the pandemic due to the disproportionately low wages for such skilled, emotionally and physically taxing work. Most staff earn close to minimum wage, and do not receive health insurance.

CA3 Budget Recommendations

We want to realize Governor Newsom’s vision for expanded learning for all students in California. These 3 priorities must be addressed this year to achieve his goal:

Don’t penalize existing afterschool programs

Extend the pandemic flexibility on attendance for After School Education and Safety (ASES) and 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) programs through the 2022 calendar year. Without action, programs could lose 10-30% of funding in future years because of fluctuating attendance tied to the pandemic. If programs lose this funding, it will be very challenging for them to maintain and increase staffing levels and provide the quality support that students need and deserve. The California Department of Education has stated they support another year of holding afterschool program grantees harmless for attendance targets. The May Revise holds childcare and pre-kindergarten programs harmless from attendance penalties and provides additional support to LEAs, but does not extend this to all state and federal afterschool programs. Please hold existing ASES and 21st CCLC programs harmless on attendance this year.

Support staff and students

Provide After School Education and Safety (ASES) and 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) programs with at least a proportional cost-of-living adjustment (6.56% COLA). ASES and 21st CCLC program providers had trouble recruiting and maintaining staff before the pandemic due to low wages. Most programs are not back to pre-pandemic staffing levels and the demand for expanded learning staffing has grown dramatically with ELO-P. Students lose out when there are not enough staff. With fixed student-to-staff ratios, programs have no choice but to reduce the number of students they serve if they do not have enough staff. These programs cannot offer livable or competitive wages to recruit and retain their diverse and qualified workforce with $10.18 per student, per day in state or federal funding, particularly with rising costs to operate, state minimum wage increasing to $15.50, and 8.3% inflation. May Revise includes 6.56% cost-of-living adjustments for LCFF and most other educational programs, but ASES and 21st CCLC programs remain at $10.18 per student per day. A COLA is extremely important for programs serving middle and high school youth that are not prioritized to receive funding through the ELO-P. Please increase the daily rate for ASES and 21st CCLC programs to $10.75 per student per day and provide a proportional COLA.

Listen to the community and educators
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Support
AB 2501 (Carrillo)

To achieve the greater goal of universal access to afterschool and summer programs, and to ensure the state’s current investment is successful and sustainable, effective planning and implementation are needed. AB 2501 by Assemblymember Carrillo would establish the California Universal Afterschool Program Workgroup to evaluate policy and regulatory impediments to afterschool and summer programs by leveraging the experience of school administrators, students, families, and community partners, as well as data, to develop recommendations for universal access. This would ensure representation from all practitioners and interest-holders are integrated into state planning and implementation conversations, as their variety of experiences and expertise are essential to identify and address barriers to providing equitable access to quality expanded learning opportunities. Please support AB 2501 (Carrillo) and allocate $850,000 in one-time funding to establish a short-term statewide workgroup.

To make this investment even stronger, and reach all of the students who need expanded learning programs, CA3 recommends the following:

Support
middle &
high school youth

Not all students have equitable access to expanded learning programs. The vast majority of funding for afterschool programs is directed toward younger students, leaving out middle school and high school students who would strongly benefit from participating in expanded learning programs. The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating effects on the mental health, engagement, and learning of middle and high school students across California. The state is facing a serious attendance crisis, and research shows that participation in afterschool programs is linked to increased school day attendance. And yet, fewer than 25% of high schools in California receive any state or federal funding for afterschool programs, and less than 1.5% of total afterschool funding in the state is dedicated to high school students. The $5 billion committed to ELO-P prioritizes elementary students (TK-6). Please ensure all California students have access to quality expanded learning programs by increasing funding for middle and high school students.

Fund ELO-P technical assistance

Despite an increase of more than 6x in Expanded Learning funding and numerous LEAs with significantly expanded or new programs, there has not been a single penny in additional funding for technical assistance. California has a robust System of Support for Expanded Learning that ensures high-quality programs throughout our state. However, their workload has increased drastically in the last few years – supporting programs navigating the pandemic, one-time ELO-Grants, and the ongoing significant investments in ELO-P – without any additional funding. This system is significantly overburdened and the expectations placed on this system at the current funding level are unsustainable. In line with the LAO recommendations, we request an additional $15 million of funding to expand the Statewide System of Support for Expanded Learning. In comparison, the Community Schools initiative (proposed at $4.5 billion in one-time funding) has significantly more funding set aside to provide technical assistance ($142 million). It is important to note that the new positions allocated to the Department of Education for the administration of the ELO-P are compliance-oriented and typically do not provide the direct technical assistance that is needed to support quality programming.

Maximize Arts funding

We are deeply appreciative of the State of California’s forthcoming investment in arts expanded learning in the 2022-2023 Budget. Arts expanded learning is a positive and potent strategy to counteract the COVID-19 pandemic’s associated decreases in student engagement and increased social isolation, so we are particularly grateful for and applaud the timing of this investment. To maximize this funding, we ask that it be divided: (1) 60% for materials, equipment, and arts experiences, and (2) 40% capacity building for community-based organizations and schools. Additionally, this funding should support arts expanded learning for students at all grade levels in under-resourced communities.

Increase the minimum grant for ELO-P

The Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELO-P) requires school districts to offer at least 3 hours of hands-on, engaging learning experiences each school day (in addition to instructional hours) and 9 hours per day for at least 30 days during the summer/intersession for most districts. Yet, under the Governor’s budget proposal for FY 2022-23, nearly 100 school districts are expected to receive the minimum grant amount of only $50,000 per year for the whole the district.