During the United States 2020 budget proposal, the Trump administration proposed to eliminate the 21st Century Community Learning Centers. This would have stopped after-school programs across the United States from receiving funding, which would have negatively impacted nearly 2 million children.
The Trump administration planned to cut funding under the precedent that the programs had no proven effectiveness and removing the funding would “eliminate waste”. This claim was easily debunked using statistics gathered by the Afterschool Alliance:
- A 2018 poll found that 90 percent of adults thought that after-school programs benefited their community
- 8 in 10 American’s feel that cutting after-school programs would be negative
- After-school helps to get kids excited about STEM and close skill gaps
The proposal did not pass and after-school programs ended up with a budget of $1.21 billion. This funding will allow after-school programs across all 50 states to continue helping the youth in their community.
Next week is Afterschool Professional Appreciation week. This is a time where people can show gratitude to the individuals in their community that have made a difference in childrens’ lives through after-school programs.
STEM Sport® is a huge advocate for the funding and implementation of after-school programs. These programs help children in high-poverty areas, offer help on homework for a variety of subjects and promote interest in school subjects that kids may not originally be drawn to.
Our STEM kits are easily implemented into after-school program settings. Our turnkey curriculum is designed in a way that is easily implemented and allows students to grasp the concepts with ease. Another unique part about STEM Sports® is that we focus on combining cognitive learning and physical activity through sport. After-school programs utilize exercise and learning both, making us a great fit.
With the after-school education budget still intact, we look forward to seeing these programs continue to grow and help children all around the country. We are also excited to continue our role in supplementing student’s after-school experience with our curriculum.
