Washington, D.C. — Ahead of reports that President Donald Trump will roll out his budget proposal later this week, a new issue brief from the Center for American Progress details the harm that proposed cuts to the AmeriCorps program would have on education reform. Without national service programs such as AmeriCorps, education reform could come to a grinding halt, as these programs and services rely heavily on AmeriCorps-supported volunteers.
“The AmeriCorps program and those like it provide unparalleled support to hundreds of thousands of students every year who benefit at little cost to the American taxpayer. Successful organizations working hard to improve education rely on volunteers and resources through these programs,” said Lisette Partelow, Director of K-12 Strategic Initiatives at CAP. “If President Trump and Republicans target these effective national service programs and the spirit of American volunteerism, it is students that will suffer the most.”
Reducing or eliminating funding for these programs would be especially harmful to many of the largest and most successful organizations working to improve education in America. Organizations such as KIPP charter schools, the Boston Teacher Residency, and Reading Corps, rely heavily on volunteers and other resources provided by national service programs to make their transformative results possible. Public charter schools and traditional districts looking to fill hard-to-staff schools and subject areas also rely on AmeriCorps-funded teacher residencies and teaching fellowships and would likely suffer if these programs disappeared.
Programs such as AmeriCorps that are administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service are repeatedly proven to be an effective and efficient use of federal funds. Yet despite making up only 0.02 percent of the federal budget, Republican members of Congress and President Trump have attempted to defund national service programs, ignoring the fact that 83 percent of Americans support investments in such programs.
Click here to read “Proposed Cuts to AmeriCorps Would Be Devastating for Education Reform” by Lisette Partelow and Kami Spicklemire.
For more information or to speak with an expert, contact Devon Kearns at [email protected] or 860.977.1928.