Expand access to high quality tutoring and after school enrichment for the students most impacted by the pandemic

May 11, 2022

To: Governor Gavin Newsom, Senator Nancy Skinner, Senator John Laird, Assemblymember Phil Ting, and Assemblymember Kevin McCarty

cc: Assembly Committee on Budget, Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, Assembly Budget Subcommittee #2 on Education Finance, Senate Budget Subcommittee #1 on Education, California Department of Finance, and the California Department of Education

“Teachers have classes with 30 students who need individualized support right now. We need to make tutoring more accessible to all students in case they don’t understand something. If they don’t understand it now, how will that affect students when they move on to the next grade?”
– Cristina Sanchez, Innovate Parent Leader, Southeast
Los Angeles

We are writing on behalf of thousands of parents of students enrolled in K-12 public schools across the state of California to urge you to ensure every student across California has the high quality expanded learning opportunities and tutoring support they need to recover and thrive.

Families applaud the Governor’s 2022 budget proposal to dedicate an additional $3.4 billion to the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program, bringing the total ongoing funding to $4.4 billion. Now it is time to ensure this historic funding will deliver on your promise of after school for all students and will result in tangible, real changes for California families.

We are concerned that this massive investment in public funding may not result in tangible, real changes for California families, especially those most impacted by the pandemic, and will instead be used to fill gaps in district budgets–this will create more cynicism about the state’s ability to solve problems and steward tax dollars effectively. California families have a right not only to know how these vital funds are being used by districts to support their kids but also to be engaged in decision-making with districts to have a voice in how funds should be spent.

We are California families asking you to implement the following in the 2022-23 California budget to ensure funds are equitably, transparently, and effectively utilized:

1. Ensure middle and high school students have access to high quality enrichment programs by ensuring there is funding available to support programs specifically geared towards these age groups. We ask you to take these two steps:

a. Expand access to the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELO-P) to middle and high school students. The ELO-P currently only requires Local Education Agencies (LEAs) to serve high-need students in grades TK- 6. Middle and high school students also need and deserve access to after school enrichment opportunities. Since the onset of the pandemic, middle and high school students’ mental health has been suffering. In 2021, 20% of teen hospitalizations in the U.S. were because of mental health emergencies– not COVID-19. After school programs can help these students recover academically and socio-emotionally. We propose the legislature update ELO-P requirements in this year’s state budget to ensure that Local Education Agencies serve students across all grades TK-12, first prioritizing high need students– low-income students, English learners, and foster youth.

b. Pass AB 2507 (McCarty) to support students in middle and high school, which would protect and grow access to quality afterschool programs for youth in middle and high school, directing 100% of future federal 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) funding to high school students and 30% of Afterschool Education and Safety Program (ASES) funding for middle school youth.

2. Dedicate $3.5 billion to provide high-quality, high-dosage tutoring to low-income K-12 students across California. There is currently no dedicated source of funding for tutoring, yet high quality, high-dosage tutoring is a proven way to address unfinished learning. Tutoring is also a way to ensure every student is able to develop close relationships with caring adults, another important strategy to support students’ socio-emotional wellbeing. There are approximately 3.4 million low-income K-12 students across California. Many highly effective tutoring programs range in cost between $2,500 and $3,500 when each tutor is paired with no more than 2 students,. Tutoring can be even more cost effective in groups of 3- 4. If the legislature commits $1,000 per low-income student per year while local education agencies contribute $500- $1,000 per low-income student per year for tutoring, we could ensure the tutoring gap was closed and every student has the individualized support both within and outside of the school day to recover and thrive. Tennessee created a statewide tutoring program, TN ALL Corps, whereby the state will provide $700 per student per year, while the district contributes $800. Next year, we need a dedicated source of funding for tutoring to help students recover and close the gap between families that can afford tutoring and families that cannot.

3. Pass AB 2501 which would create a statewide task force that can develop recommendations and proposals to address implementation barriers and improve the effectiveness of the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELO-P) and build in additional transparency and accountability mechanisms to ensure funds are being used effectively. Parents ask for accountability and transparency in how funds are spent to ensure funds are used effectively and reaching the kids most impacted by the pandemic. The 2021 California Budget invested over $1.7 billion to the ELO-P with a commitment to grow this investment to $5 billion by 2025-26. However, there is no master plan, taskforce, or advisory committee in place to plan for this historic undertaking, address implementation and sustainability challenges, and ensure transparency and accountability for how funds are used. This is why we urge you to pass AB 2501 to establish the California Universal Afterschool Program Workgroup– to leverage the expertise and lived experience of practitioners and community members, examine data, and develop recommendations to ensure ELO-P is implemented effectively and equitably.

We have an unprecedented opportunity to support students and families. We would welcome the opportunity to discuss these recommendations in more depth with you and/or your staff. If you have any questions, please contact Innovate’s Associate Directors of Research and Policy, Joanna French ([email protected]) and Jennifer Perla ([email protected]).

Sincerely,

Parents of the Future of California, Innovate Public Schools