Extended Learning and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) offers tremendous opportunities for the education sector, including afterschool and extended learning programs. Much of the ARRA funding for afterschool programs will come through existing funding streams, such as the Department of Education, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, and AmeriCorps. Some ARRA funding offers new, one-time only cash infusions that may also benefit afterschool programs.
The SEDL National Center for Quality Afterschool is a resource that can help afterschool and extended learning leaders navigate the funds that are available and use them in a way that meets federal guidelines. Included here is an outline of some of the different ARRA funds that are available for afterschool and extended learning programs and how they can use the funds.
Department of Education
Title I, Part A
The greatest ARRA funding opportunities for afterschool and extended learning programs come from existing Department of Education programs. About 10% of the entire ARRA allocation for education, or $10 billion, will be distributed under Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). Since 1965 Title I, Part A has supported school districts serving disadvantaged children to help them catch up academically to higher achieving districts. This $10 billion will be provided to local education agencies for schools that have “high concentrations of students from families that live in poverty in order to help improve teaching and learning for students most at risk of failing to meet state academic achievement standards.”1 Many afterschool and extended learning programs meet this criteria.
The grants also provide professional development funds for teachers who teach Title I-eligible students, and for “quality, online courseware as supplemental learning materials” in these same schools. The Department of Education guidelines explicitly state that ARRA funds can be used for “establishing or expanding fiscally sustainable extended learning opportunities for Title I-eligible students in targeted assistance programs, including activities provided before school, after school, during the summer, or over an extended school year.”2
The department plans to award 50% of each state’s ARRA allocation by the end of March 2009. (View an estimate of what each state may receive under the ARRA Title I, Part A allocation) These grants will be awarded in accordance with the state’s existing and approved ESEA consolidated application. To receive the second round of AARA funding, however, states must submit an amended application demonstrating how the state will meet the stimulus bill’s recordkeeping and reporting guidelines.
These AARA funds are in addition to the fiscal year 2009 funds that the department plans to distribute on July 1 and October 1, 2009. In other words, local education agencies will receive a total of four grant awards of Title I funds in the next 2 years. In keeping with the ARRA principles, the Department of Education urges states to spend the money as quickly and sensibly as possible. States must spend 85% of the funds of its total fiscal year 2009 Title I, Part A (including the ARRA money) by September 30, 2010.
Title I, School Improvement Grants
Another area of funding opportunities within the Department of Education is Title I, School Improvement Grants. Three billion dollars will be available in Fall 2009. Forty percent of these grants should go to middle and high schools.3
Parts B and C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
Special education funding under Parts B and C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) will also receive a boost from ARRA. Part B of the IDEA provides funds to state and local educational agencies “to help them ensure that children with disabilities, including children aged 3 through 5, have access to a free appropriate public.”4 About $11 billion is available under Part B Grants to States; $400 million is available under Part B Preschool Grants; and $500 million is available under Part C Grants for Infants and Families.5
The Department of Education plans to award 50% of the IDEA, Part B Grants by the end of March 2009. The other 50% will be awarded by October 1, 2009. As in the case of the Title I, these awards will be in addition to the regular fiscal year 2009 appropriations. Like all ARRA stimulus funds, these funds should be used primarily for short-term investments that have the potential for long-term benefits, and not for expenditures that organizations may not be able to sustain once the recovery funds are spent.
State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF)
The Department of Education will also be distributing funds from the newly created State Fiscal Stabilization Fund (SFSF). The SFSF ‘s main goal is to address budget shortfalls that many states are currently experiencing and to stabilize state and local budgets. First and foremost, these funds should be used to retain teachers who might otherwise be laid off. As many day-school teachers are also afterschool and summer school teachers, this fund will help keep these teachers employed. Governors may also use the funds to support the modernization, renovation, and repair of school facilities.6 Governors will direct the distribution of 80% of this one-time infusion of $53.6 million.
A particularly promising funding opportunity for afterschool programs are the competitive grants that will be awarded to schools and nonprofits from the stabilization fund. These grants will reward what Secretary of Education Arne Duncan calls “islands of excellence,”7—schools and nonprofits using innovative techniques to narrow achievement gaps. The department will award up to $650 million under the “Invest in What Works and Innovation” fund and an additional $4.35 billion for “Race to the Top” competitive grants. Applications for these grants will be available later in the spring, with the first round of winners receiving funds beginning in October 2009.
Other funds that may be available to afterschool programs from the Department of Education include education technology grant funds, funds for summer-school initiatives, and funds to create assessment systems to track how afterschool programs affect day-school performance.
Other Sources of Funding
Child Care and Development Block Grants (CCDBG)
Moving outside the Department of Education, another funding opportunity for afterschool and extended learning programs comes from Child Care and Development Block Grants (CCDBG). Administered by the Health and Human Services Department, these grants subsidize child care costs for children under the age of 13. The ARRA has allocated $2 billion in additional funds for this program, which will be available through September 30, 2010. About one third of these funds will used to support children in afterschool programs.8
AmeriCorps
The stimulus bill includes $201 million in funding for the Corporation for National and Community Service to support an expansion of AmeriCorps State and National and AmeriCorps VISTA programs. AmericCorps members currently staff many afterschool programs. These funds will allow existing AmeriCorps state and national grantees to add more Corps members, and may support as many as 10,000 new Corps members. Afterschool Alliance, a national organization dedicated to increasing awareness of afterschool programs, recommends that “afterschool programs approach existing AmeriCorps grantees about having new Corps members placed in their afterschool programs.”9 Afterschool Alliance also suggests exploring whether any current afterschool program staff could qualify as Corps members, in which case ARRA funds could be used to pay the living allowance that Corps members receive.10 On the Corporation for National Service on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Web site, afterschool programs can search a list of existing grantees for partnership opportunities.
ARRA funds will also provide $65 million for 3,000 AmeriCorps VISTA member positions to new and existing sponsors. AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers focus primarily on fighting poverty. They commit to 1 year of service at a nonprofit or local government agency that addresses the root causes and consequences of poverty.11 Many afterschool programs would qualify as a suitable placement for these VISTA volunteers.
The Department of Labor: Workforce Investment Act
Some afterschool program funds may also be available from the $2.95 billion provided for the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). This act provides cities with funds for job training and employment services for dislocated workers, youth, and adults. The act also raises the age limit for the youth program from 21 to 24, allowing more people to qualify for the program. In addition, $50 million has been provided for YouthBuild, a youth and community development program that addresses key issues facing low-income communities, such as housing, education, employment, crime prevention, and leadership development. Low-income participants of YouthBuild, aged 16 to 24, build affordable housing while working toward their GEDs or high school diplomas and learn valuable job skills.
These funding opportunities for afterschool programs represent just some of the new and existing funding streams that are part of the massive stimulus bill. With $787 billion at stake, it can be difficult to explain where all of it will go and how it will be distributed. Most importantly, afterschool programs must act quickly to ensure that they will receive some ARRA funds, or they will potentially miss out on once-in-a-lifetime national investment in U.S. education.
Footnotes
1, 2 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Title I, Part A Recovery Funds for Grants to Local Education Agencies. (n.d.) Retrieved from www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/factsheet/title-i.html
3 Association for Career and Technical Education (2009, March). Education and Workforce Development Provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Baltimore, MD: author. Retrieved from www.acteonline.org/uploadedFiles/Issues_and_Advocacy/files/ARRAsummary.doc
4, 5 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: IDEA Recovery Funds for Services to Children and Youths with Disabilities. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/factsheet/idea.html
6 State Fiscal Stabilization Fund. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/factsheet/stabilization-fund.html
7 Dillon, S. (2009, February 1). For Education Chief, Stimulus Means Power, Money and Risk. New York Times, p. A1.
8 Afterschool Alliance. (n.d.) CCDGB in Economic Recovery Act. Retrieved March 20, 2009, from www.afterschoolalliance.org/PolicyEconRecovCCDBG.cfm
9 Corporation for National and Community Service (n.d.) American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Retrieved from www.nationalservice.gov/about/recovery/index.asp
10, 11 Afterschool Alliance. (n.d.) Service & Afterschool in Economic Recovery Act. Retrieved March 20, 2009, from www.afterschoolalliance.org/PolicyEconRecovService.cfm
Stay Updated
For updated information on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, visit the following Web sites
- Recovery.gov
The federal government’s main portal on the ARRA - Department of Education
Includes updates on how ARRA funds will be distributed - Department of Education ARRA Overview
- Afterschool Alliance
- Afterschool Alliance Wiki
- Americorps
- U.S. Department of Labor
- Corporation for National and Community Service
Guidelines: Spending ARRA Funds
In all of these funding opportunities, state and local governments, school districts, and nonprofits must remember the four overriding principles of ARRA:
- Spend funds quickly to save and create jobs. For example, on March 7, 2009, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced that he wanted his department to distribute $44 million within 30 to 45 days. The first round of funding is intended to eliminate teacher layoffs due to state budget shortfalls.
- Improve student achievement through school improvement and reform. This principle creates a mandate to improve the education system and to demonstrate how particular programs will lead to improved achievement.
- Ensure transparency, reporting, and accountability. In order for many programs to receive a second round of ARRA funding after the initial infusions, they will have to provide receipts, and track and measure results.
- Invest one-time ARRA funds thoughtfully to minimize the “funding cliff.” ARRA funds should not be used for projects that cannot be sustained after the ARRA funds are spent.