Education Law

The value of afterschool programs

BoardBuzz attended a U. S. Senate briefing held recently on afterschool partnerships with businesses. ACE Mentor Program of America, the Construction Industry Round Table, the Pennsylvania Area Council of Boys and Girls Clubs, CentroNia and the Verizon Foundation all made presentations on the work their organizations do in promoting and in providing afterschool activity.  

Sadly, more than 15 million children are left unsupervised at the close of the school day, yet more than  18.5 million parents report they would make their children participate in afterschool programs if they were ?affordable and available?.  Currently only 11 percent of the cost of afterschool programs are being funded by the federal government, this according to the bipartisan senate afterschool caucus, which naturally begs the question, should this number be increased?

It seems straightforward that if children spend additional hours pursuing academic interests it will pay positive educational dividends.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on July 20, 2010 (boomark / email).