An initiative to build after-school programs in New York City expanded public funding of such programs from $23 million to nearly $300 million from 1998 to 2008, a study has found.
The Institute for Education and Social Policy at New York University studied the growth resulting from a $125 million challenge grant given by the Open Society Institute in 1998 to The After-School Corporation, based in New York City.
Fewer than 20,000 children participated in after-school programs in 1998; by 2008, that number rose to about 160,000, the study found. Funding per child climbed from $1,386 in 1998 to $1,799 in 2008, it says.
More than 80 percent of the money spent in 1998 came from the city, with state and federal funds accounting for the rest. But by 2008, the state and federal role rose to about one-third.
