COMMUNITY SCHOOLS ARE COMING

The Coalition for Community Schools is thrilled to share that two community school amendments offered by Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) have passed as part of the Senate’s Every Child Achieves Act bill. Every Child Achieves is intended to replace No Child Left Behind.  One amendment authorizes a full-service community schools grant program, and the second-which passed unanimously- makes resource coordinators an allowable use of Title IV funds. We commend Senators Brown and Manchin for their leadership in the Senate, and House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) for his long-standing championship across Capitol Hill for community schools. “This victory demonstrates the growing bipartisan support for the community school strategy,” states Martin J. Blank, President of the Institute for Educational Leadership and Director of the Coalition. “More and more Senators are hearing from their constituents about the growth and impact of community schools in their states, and the strong return on investment that community schools yield for young people, families and their communities.” Mary Kingston Roche, the Coalition’s Director of Public Policy, adds, “These wins prove the power of our Coalition’s over 200 national, state and local partners who made this victory possible. By coming together around the vision of community schools, partners representing educators, families, youth development, health, and civil rights rallied for these amendments and achieved strong bipartisan support. It is this united front that made these amendments successful and makes the community schools strategy so powerful.” We are also excited that the Senate preserved dedicated funding for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC), which provides funding for afterschool, before-school and summer learning programs and is an important funding stream for the community school strategy. We look forward to working with Congress and our partners to ensure that a final bill strengthens school, family and community partnerships for young people’s success. For more information on the specifics of these two amendments check our website next week.