Effectively Expanding California's After School System: Overcoming the Workforce Supply Obstacle. After School Policy Brief

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10

David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Los Altos, CA.

After School Education; After School Programs; Educational Change; Politics of Education; Program Budgeting; Labor Supply; Change Strategies; Educational Policy; Program Effectiveness; State Programs

Proposition 49, which voters passed in 2002, guaranteed more than a three-fold increase in state funding for after school programs, although rollout was dependent on the state budget meeting specific conditions. In 2006-07, the budget met those conditions and the legislation implementing the proposition was passed. Subsequently, an additional $550 million per year began to flow into new and expanded after school programs that were funded through the After School Education and Safety Program. This unprecedented expansion of programs over a few months presented many challenges. Primary among them was the ability to hire new staff, which has strained the state's after school infrastructure at all levels, from administration by the California Department of Education to program staffing at local schools. This policy brief covers the state's challenges in meeting staffing needs for its publicly-funded after school programs and recommends guidelines that may help after school programs reach larger applicant pools, achieve improved candidate diversity and lessen the stress associated with starting up new programs. (Contains 1 footnote.) [Additional funding for this report was provided by the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund.]

ERIC

2008

ED500617