Students After School Paper Article

Letter To the Editor,

​Say, have you heard about one of the latest in the Trump Administration’s bag of tricks?  No, I’m not talking about the cutting of SNAP benefits, or Meals on Wheels, or funding losses in Medicaid (TennCare). Those were last month’s jollies.  I’m talking about federal funds being cut from the budget for summer and after-school programs, (the 21st Century Community Learning Center, which supports extracurricular programs).  Oh, you haven’t heard?  Well, let me tell you.  $6 billion dollars, already appropriated by Congress, are being paused by the President. In Tennessee, more than $118 million is in limbo. Federal funding for summer programs, after-school programs, student support, teacher training, English language learning and other educational programs will be affected.  But wait!  There’s more!  Are you familiar with AmeriCorps?  Funding for that program has also been cut.  Volunteers in AmeriCorps and Vista help with after-school and summer programs.  So, sheesh.  They won’t be able to step in.  Boys and Girls clubs might be able to help, but others, like the YMCA of Eastern TN, will be facing funding gaps and will need to find other sources for financial assistance  (per Chalkbeat Tennessee, a newsite covering educational change in public schools). ​

​This is not a red/blue problem. This is not a state problem.  This is a national problem.  Working mothers and fathers of all backgrounds need help with child care so they can continue to work to support their families.  Children need adult supervision, care, nurturing and guidance after school (and sometimes before school).  Are there other ways to pay for these needs?  Can the states take on the extra burden?  Senator Marsha Blackburn has introduced a bill (AFTER SCHOOL Act), but it is for grants specifically for school districts that have high numbers of juvenile crime.  How about keeping and funding programs that start with our younger youth to help prevent juvenile crime from happening in the first place?

​ Are you concerned?  Well, contacting and supporting The Tennessee Afterschool Network is one way you/ we can help. Calling your state and federal legislators can also put pressure on them to listen to us, their constituents (US Senator Marsha Blackburn (202-224-3344), US Sen. Bill Haggerty (202-224-4944), and US Rep Diana Harshbarger (202-225-6356). ​Ask them, “What can be done about this issue?  And what are YOU doing?”  At this point, I don’t know how these cuts and pauses are going to affect families in Greene County but I, for one, do not see anything good coming from it.    

​Melissa Brown, Greeneville