Proposed Federal budget cuts threaten after school and summer programs in California. State Superintendent Tom Torlakson has forcefully opposed the budget cuts, and spoken out about the benefits of summer and after school programs. Recently, he visited a summer learning program at Robla Elementary School near Sacramento, to see the impact the program has on the local community, and highlight the importance of summer learning for California students.
On April 11th, the California Department of Education’s Expanded Learning Division released the Intent to award funding for 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC Elementary and Middle School) and 21st Century High School After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens (ASSETs) programs contingent upon the availability of federal funds, and subject to change based upon the grant appeal process.
This memo describes the 21st Century Community Learning Center (21st CCLC) request for applications (RFA) for elementary and middle school students. It provides updates about the new RFA and is an application planning tool that can be shared by teams, potential partners, and stakeholders.
While middle and upper-income children are able to keep learning each summer by visiting museums and camps or going on family vacations, children from low-income families are falling behind. High-quality summer learning programs are a cost-effective way to prevent summer learning loss and close both the opportunity and achievement gaps.
Summer can be a costly time for low-income families. According to Jennifer Peck, Executive Director of the Partnership for Children and Youth, “While middle-income children retain knowledge or, in many cases, make gains over the summer, low-income children fall behind.” Summer learning programs are a cost effective way to prevent summer learning loss and close the opportunity gap. In order to better understand the cost of such investments, Summer Matters conducted a small survey of partner organizations offering high quality summer learning opportunities in California.
This guide is intended to better acquaint school board members and superintendents with summer learning, and to help them establish or expand programs that result in greater learning and enrichment for the students they serve.
In select communities throughout California, districts are taking a proactive approach to address summer learning loss by using the funds provided by the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). Unlike traditional summer school, these summer learning programs combine much-needed academic content with fun, engaging activities.
Originally published before LCFF, this guide aims to help communities identify potential sources of funding to support summer programs for youth.
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