The Efficiency of Consistent Funding in Supplemental Education Programs

Abstract

Education is one of the most foundational tools necessary for economic growth and development. Because of this, there have been federal mandates established, like the passing of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2015 set in place to help nurture the United States’ education system. Unfortunately, though, education has struggled to remain valued by systems of federal power. As a result of the recent planning for 2021’s Fiscal Budget Year, shown in Public Act 101-0637,  it has been proposed that 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLCs), organizations that are directly funded by the ESSA, no longer receive funding. Without resources granted by the federal budget, programs that serve students ranging from grades K-12 run the risk of limiting resources or shutting down completely. The sudden disappearance of resources for these extracurricular organizations has left students who are specifically in lower-income districts at risk for a much lower success rate than their higher-income counterparts. Without the necessary attention, this change can potentially jeopardize the wellbeing of the United States education system. By examining the effects of this fund removal on a smaller scale, this research aims to show the importance of maintaining these extracurricular opportunities and discuss potential implications of removing funding for 21st CCLCs in the future. Focusing primarily on the state of Illinois, the success of an extracurricular organization in the Chicagoland area known as After School Matters is used to show the outcome of consistent federal funding. As a result of the research data, it is advised that these learning centers receive permanent annual funding that is monitored yearly in order to accommodate inflation costs. In addition to this, it is recommended that educational policy decisions made in the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) have increased supervision in order to ensure the continuous maintenance and improvement of educational funding in Illinois.