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Use this sample op-ed to write your own and send it to your local media. Find contact information for your local media by entering your zip code in the "Contact Congress" box (in the left margin of this page) and then clicking on "Media Guide." Submitting an op-ed will help your community understand the value and benefits of afterschool.
Americans Support Afterschool Programs for Our Kids
by [Your Name]
Afterschool programs are making an important difference for our children and their parents. They keep our kids safe in the critical afternoon hours when they are most likely to be the victims or perpetrators of crime. They help kids achieve academically - by providing homework time and help and, in many programs, one-on-one tutoring. And they relieve working parents of the worry and expense of finding constructive, adult-supervised activities for their children in the afternoon hours before the end of the regular workday.
Not surprisingly, Americans recognize the success story that is afterschool programming. In a poll conducted for the Afterschool Alliance this summer by Lake Snell Perry & Associates and The Tarrance Group, overwhelming majorities of voters backed afterschool programs. More than nine in ten agreed that "there should be some type of organized activity or place for children and teens to go after school every day that provides opportunities to learn." Eight in ten describe afterschool programs as "a necessity for [their] community."
Not only do Americans support afterschool programs in principle, they say they're willing to support them with their tax dollars as well. Two-thirds of voters say they think there are "not enough afterschool programs available for children in America today." And a similar share say they would favor a $100 state tax increase so that every child could attend an afterschool program. Americans also say they would like to see the federal contribution to afterschool doubled, and that it should increase each year.
We see the strong support for afterschool programs here in [your city], where parents, business leaders, religious groups and others have rallied around our afterschool programs. It is no wonder. At the [name of program], [#] students spend their afternoons [describe the program - activities it provides, how students who attend it are faring…]
Much of the rapid growth in afterschool in recent years can be attributed to the federal government's 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) program, and to the hundreds of millions of dollars in grant monies it has provided programs serving children in America's urban and rural communities.
However, as communities learn what afterschool can do for them and their youth, the demand for grants to fund additional programs is far exceeding supply. For example, school systems requested three times as much 21st CCLC money as was available during the 2000 fiscal year. Congress must seriously consider future proposals for increased afterschool funds.
We worry that, as America pours resources into new security and war efforts, it may be tempting for some legislators to simply reject proposed budget increases for non-defense items. But as Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), chairman of the House-Senate Conference Committee that recently debated the future of the 21st CCLC program, puts it, "Our children are our future - whether we're at war or not."
Rep. Boehner is exactly right. Afterschool programs are doing great things now, in this time of national crisis. With adequate funding, that work will continue for years to come. We should expand our national commitment to afterschool.
[Your name] is [your title] of the [your program].
