LA Unified School Board members Scott Schmerelson and George McKenna join City Council members in calling for increased funding for after-school programs. (credit: CA3)

Members of the LA Unified School Board and the Los Angeles City Council joined last week with after-school program supporters, families and students to call for an increase in state funds.

About 75 people gathered Friday outside L.A. City Hall in support of a resolution authored by City Council member David Ryu, chair of the city’s Education Committee, urging Gov. Jerry Brown and the California State Legislature to increase funding for After School Education and Safety (ASES) programs in LA and across the state.

The resolution passed with all City Council members voting in support to increase school funding. In attendance were board members Scott Schmerelson, George McKenna and Monica Ratliff and council members Ryu, Bob Blumenfield and Nury Martinez.

The effort was led by the California After School Advocacy Alliance (CA3), a group of organizations that work to enhance accessibility to quality after-school programs. The alliance stated that if no action is taken by the state Legislature this year, nearly half a million low-income youth in California – 110,000 in LA Unified – would be affected, and as early as next year 50,000 could lose access to the programs. As a result, California could see more dropouts, higher crime and at-risk students being left behind, it stated.

In addition to supporting Ryu’s resolution, the CA3 recently sponsored a bill, AB 2663, that would help increase state funding to offset the costs of minimum wage increases and provide ASES programs with a statutory cost-of-living adjustment similar to other state programs.

According to a Los Angeles Times report, that would raise the daily per-student funding rate from $7.50 to $8.50, creating a $73.26-million increase for the 2016-17 school year and providing LA Unified about $10 million more for after-school programs.

With budgets getting tighter and funding from the state unpredictable, many educational organizations are turning to crowd-sourcing to keep after-school programs going.

Two organizations taking this approach are CORE Educational Services and arc After School Programs, which are using a partnership to provide after-school programs at seven L.A. Green Dot Public Schools in Los Angeles. Green Dot runs a network of 21 unionized charter schools in Los Angeles. 

In a crowd-sourcing campaign on Indiegogo, CORE is asking for $50,000 to keep the programs alive until it can apply for new funding from the state in two years. According to CORE, the programs lost their state funding on May 21.

The campaign has received over $29,000 in donations as of Tuesday afternoon, but donation period expires on Nov. 2.

“When we refer to ‘after-school programs,’ we’re not talking about babysitting services, arts-and-crafts, or open gyms for pick-up sports and dodge ball,” the campaign’s page says. “These high school after-school programs provide enriching classes in art, music production, culinary arts, career-and-college-readiness, and more. Importantly, these classes are taught by skilled instructors from ‘the neighborhood’ who serve as mentors for at-risk students.”

Click on the the attached video to learn more about the campaign.

“If these programs are cut, No. 1, there won’t be a dedicated safe space for these kids to go to every day,” Leon Clayborne, a regional manager for arc, said in the video.

Hollywood star and former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger just launched the coolest campaign ever to benefit after-school programs in LAUSD and in other cities. The campaign comes in the form of a contest. For as little as $10 a ticket, you can win a ride with Schwarzenegger in his M47 Patton Tank. How awesome is that?

The money raised from the contest will go to After School All-Stars — a program Schwarzenegger founded — that aims to enrich students through health, academic and community leadership activities. After School All-Stars is partnered with LAUSD and serves thousands of students in the region, 86 percent of whom are minorities in Title 1 schools.

The contest ends today, so hurry to buy your ticket! Contest Link

“Of course this is good news for the five new schools who are adding an award-winning after school program,” Garcetti said in a press release. “But we also are happy that this expansion encompasses an area stretching from the Valley to the South side of the city, benefiting hundreds of children in Los Angeles and their families and adding a source of inspiration and information to their communities.”

Compared with his predecessor, Garcetti has so far taken a decidedly apolitical approach to education, pledging to strengthen community services connected to school sites. The expansion of LA’s Best is in keeping with that agenda.

The non-profit now serves over 28,000 children, ages 5 to 12, and will operate out of 194 schools, once the five new ones open in the next few weeks.

The new mayor has yet to appoint a top education deputy. Rumor has it that he plans to hire former Santa Ana Unified Superintendent Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana, but that has not been confirmed yet.

Previous posts: The Buzz: Thelma Melendez Likely to Run Garcetti’s Education Team; Garcetti Makes First Education Appointment (updated); Update: Garcetti Might Change City Hall Education Job; Garcetti’s Education Staffing Plans Unclear; Joan Sullivan to Head LA Partnership Schools