After-school Funding Increases

As part of the omnibus spending bill approved by Congress and signed by President Bush on December 26, the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program received a significant funding increase. The $100 million increase for 21st CCLC in Fiscal Year 2008 puts the total funding at an all time high of $1.1 billion. This means an additional 100,000 kids will have access to high quality after-school programs. (For those of you doing the math, that is $1000 per child. Not a very high price to pay, considering what many people pay for day care. Of course, building a quality program costs more than this, which is why state, local, and private funds are so necessary.)

To see how this funding increase will affect your state, click here for a PDF of current vs final funding for 21st CCLC.

Thanks to the Afterschool Alliance for this update and for all of their hard work in making this funding increase a reality.