Opinion
Education Funding Letter to the Editor

After-School, Summer Programs Make Critical Difference

March 11, 2014 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

To the Editor:

Kudos to Marin Gjaja, J. Puckett, and Matt Ryder for shedding light on the important issue of school funding in their recent Commentary (“When It Comes to School Funding, Equity Is the Key,” Feb. 19, 2014).

Their work clearly shows that increased spending per pupil leads to positive impacts on students. The authors do a great job of distinguishing between funding from state governments, the federal government, local property taxes, and additional fundraising by parents or the community.

But what isn’t directly mentioned is the investment by after-school and summer programs, which leverage significant philanthropic dollars to improve student outcomes. After-school programs like Citizen Schools, Providence After School Alliance, Building Educated Leaders for Life, and my organization, Higher Achievement, are investing meaningful dollars in underserved communities and finding strong results across the country.

By my calculations, just these four programs leverage more than $70 million per year to support underserved students’ academic and enrichment needs. Higher Achievement’s programs in the Washington region; Richmond, Va.; Baltimore; and Pittsburgh have seen dramatic student outcomes according to our analysis, including 94 percent of our middle school participants graduating from high school within four years.

The Commentary authors write, “The United States can better live up to its reputation as the land of opportunity by creating more opportunities for all students, especially low-income students.” We have a saying at Higher Achievement: “Talent is everywhere. Opportunity is not.” Proven, rigorous after-school programs aren’t just increasing per-pupil costs, but they are moving our country toward truly earning our reputation as the land of opportunity.

Lynsey Wood Jeffries

Chief Executive Officer

Higher Achievement

Washington, D.C.

A version of this article appeared in the March 12, 2014 edition of Education Week as After-School, Summer Programs Make Critical Difference

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Funding How States Are Rethinking Where School Funding Should Go
There's constant debate over the best way to allocate state money to schools. Here are some ways states are reworking their school funding.
7 min read
Conceptual illustration of tiny people is planning the personal budget, accounting, analysis.
Muhamad Chabibalwi/iStock/Getty
Education Funding A Court Ordered Billions for Education. Why Schools Might Not Get It Now
The North Carolina Supreme Court is considering arguments for overturning a statewide order for more school funding.
6 min read
A blue maze with a money bag at the end of the maze.
iStock/Getty
Education Funding Schools Want More Time to Spend COVID-19 Aid for Homeless Students
Senators want to give districts more time to spend COVID relief funds for students experiencing homelessness.
4 min read
New canvas school bags hanging on the backs of empty classroom student chairs in a large modern classroom
iStock/Getty Images
Education Funding ESSER Isn't the Only School Funding Relief That's Disappearing Soon
Federal relief aid, policies to prevent schools from losing enrollment-based funding, and support for vulnerable families are expiring soon.
10 min read
Vector illustration of a businessman's hand holding a slowly vanishing dollar sign.
iStock/Getty