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Now more than ever it is important for all of us to tell our legislators why afterschool matters to us. We invite you to join us in reaching out to our local and national representatives to share the stories of how afterschool makes a difference for youth and their communities.
OregonASK will be sending out policy updates every Friday this spring, to keep you all aware of changes and happenings on the state and national level.
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Schwarzenegger Speaks Out for Afterschool
This year's National Afterschool Summit was hosted by former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a vocal champion for afterschool. Schwarzenegger has recently gotten into a few social media spats with President Trump, and he criticized heavily the president's proposed federal budget, which would eliminate the 21st Century Community Learning Center program.
"President Trump promised us that he wants to make America great again," Schwarzenegger said of his fellow Republican. "That's not how you make America great-by taking $1.2 billion away from the children and robbing them blind. Why would you want to balance the budget on the backs of those kids? Kids are the most vulnerable citizens. Kids are our future. We need them. That's why I say every time that you spend money on those kids wisely you get it back 10 times over."
Speaking with Van Jones, the host of CNN's "The Messy Truth,", Schwarzenegger issued a call to action. "We're going to go to Washington," Schwarzenegger said. "We're not going to take this lying down. We're going to talk to the Democrats and the Republicans because this is not a party issue." He vowed to lobby to keep the 21st CCLC funds in the budget, and called the crowd of advocates present "crusaders, warriors, and terminators."
During his conversation with Jones, Schwarzenegger also encouraged the crowd not to just complain about things they don't like in the government. "Instead of complaining about something, it is better to go and have a solution and do something about it," said the former terminator. "Congress has a 15 percent approval rating, which is worse than herpes or colonoscopies. But 98 percent of them got re-elected in this last election, so you are the problem. Instead of complaining in front of the television set, do something about it. Listen more carefully [to] what they say, and think about redistricting reform because the whole political system is fixed in the first place."
To watch a recording of the National Afterschool Summit, and Schwarzenegger's remarks,
click here.
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Town Halls
Senator Wyden will be returning to Oregon, and is hosting a series of town halls between April 17th and April 23rd. We encourage you to go if you can, and tell him why afterschool and funding for 21st Century Community Learning Centers is important to you and your community. This is also an awesome opportunity to invite the Senator to visit your program so he can see first hand the difference afterschool makes for children in our state.
CLICK HERE for a list of Senator Wyden's Town Hall Dates
CLICK HERE for resources to help you plan a legislative site visit
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ESSA Report
OregonASK has been working in collaboration with the Oregon Department of Education, Chief Education Office and an amazing group of stakeholders, to offer solutions to help policymakers and STEM partners thoroughly understand the importance and role that afterschool and summer STEM & CTE opportunities play in creating equitable systems to support all youth in Oregon.
Full implementation of ESSA will not occur until the 2017-18 school year, but planning has already begun, allowing states, school districts and their partners to find valuable resources for creating positive school climates and expanded learning opportunities within new ESSA guidelines. From our group of stakeholders, we created a report that provides a framework for implementation, as well as suggested funding sources to provide a practical manual for increasing student outcomes to meet the rigorous state goals.
Our
Report & Recommendations for Improving Access to Learning: A Sustainable Pathway for All, describes resources, programmatic requirements, and allowable uses of funds in each Title, providing a brief description about the program that was authorized, listing the appropriated and authorized funding levels as set forth by Congress, the President's fiscal year 2017 budget request, and the type of entity that can apply for the fund. You can access the full report
HERE.
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Upcoming Webinars
OregonASK is hosting a series of webinars this spring about federal policy surrounding the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and 21CCLC. Join us for these conversations if you can, or look for recordings afterwards.
Preserving 21st Century Community Learning Centers
Join us to discuss what the proposed funding cut to 21CCLC means to afterschool professionals, and how we can come together to advocate for the importance of these programs.
Integrating Summer, STEM & ESSA
Join OregonASK and the National Summer Learning Association as we talk about utilizing summer STEM opportunities as a tool for ESSA implementation. And hear the most up-to-date info on the policy implications from the state and national level.
ESSA and Informal STEM Policy Opportunities
You will hear national policy updates from the Afterschool Alliance as we discuss the state and national opportunities to integrate informal STEM within ESSA implementation. We will be sharing updated policy information from the state and national level, including budget outlook.
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OregonASK Day at the Capitol
Make your voice heard!
Join us on Tuesday, May 2nd in Salem to share with your local legislators why afterschool matters to you.
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Staying Up to Date with State Policy
We know how important it is to stay up-to-date on current state legislation and encourage those of you who are interested to know more about the happenings in Salem, you can follow bills directly from the
Oregon State Legislature
or contact
James Barta
to get weekly updates from Children First about a plethora of child related issues.
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Take Individual Action
You can make a difference.
Call on congress to
protect funding for afterschool and summer learning programs. Need help finding your legislators? Click HERE. Need talking points to support your own stories of afterschool? HERE is evidence showing that Afterschool Works.
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Thank you for your support of afterschool in Oregon and across the nation.
Beth Unverzagt, Executive Director
(503)689-1656
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OregonASK is a collaboration of public and private organizations and community members which seek to address common-issues and concerns across all out-of-school time services- child care, recreation, education and youth development.
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