Legislative Analyst's Office Analysis of the 2001-02 Budget Bill

After School Programs

The 2001-02 Governor's Budget includes $43 million in new General Fund resources for initiatives aimed at improving the academic skills of students through activities offered after "regular" school hours. Specifically, the budget provides:

• $20 million (Proposition 98) for half-year expansion of the After School Learning and Safe Neighborhoods Partnerships Program, in order to provide homework assistance to an additional 34,000 students, with priority to those attending middle schools.
• $2 million (one-time funds available from prior-year Proposition 98 savings) for existing regional resource centers under the After School Learning and Safe Neighborhoods Partnerships Program to increase technical assistance and training to middle schools.
• $10 million for college students to tutor K-12 students under the Student Academic Partnership Program, which was previously funded with federal Goals 2000 funds.
• $8 million (General Fund, non-Proposition 98) for the California State University to recruit college students to tutor high school students in English and math under the Learning Assistance Program, which was also previously funded with federal Goals 2000 funds. (We discuss this augmentation in further detail under the crosscutting issue, "Collaborative Academic Preparation Programs," earlier in this chapter.
• $5 million (Proposition 98) for the Office of the Secretary for Education (OSE) to expand the Academic Volunteer and Mentor Service Program to provide a mentor to an additional 10,000 pupils.

Overview of Programs Available to K-12 Students After School

The state and federal government fund a variety of activities that are offered after regular school hours. These programs provide students with (1) academic assistance and enrichment, (2) positive role models, (3) activities designed to prevent juvenile crime, (4) after school child care, and (5) college preparation. Figure 1 summarizes the different programs that are available to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 through 12 after school. Most of the programs can also be offered before school, Saturdays, during intersession, or during the summer.

As indicated in the figure, the Governor's budget includes funding of almost $1 billion for over 20 different after school programs. These are specific categorical programs that target students in particular grade levels. Some of the programs overlap in terms of their objectives and target populations.

Figure 1 does not include two other potential sources of funds for after school programs. First, the state and federal governments annually provide schools with almost $1.5 billion in "compensatory" funds—based on measures of socioeconomic disadvantage—for various purposes, including after school programs for pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 through 12. One such compensatory education program is the Economic Impact Aid program.

Second, the federal 21^st Century Learning Centers provide academic enrichment and recreational activities to students at many sites in California. This program, however, is managed directly by the federal government without state involvement. In federal fiscal year (FFY) 2000
(October 1999 to September 2000), the federal government awarded about $50 million for 130 grants to California school districts and county offices of education. The federal budget for FFY 2001 includes a doubling in funding that districts and county offices of education in California can compete for with those in other states.

In addition, after school programs are also offered to students in local communities through Young Mens Christian Association sites, Boys & Girls Clubs, churches, and local parks and recreation centers. We also note that many students participate in extracurricular activities, including school sports, after regular school hours.

Governor's Budget Proposals for After School Programs

The 2001-02 Governor's Budget proposes spending $43 million in new General Fund resources for programs targeted at improving the academic success of students. In this section, we make recommendations regarding these proposals.

After School Learning and Safe Neighborhoods Partnerships Program

We recommend that the Legislature redirect (1) the $20 million proposed for expansion of the After School Learning and Safe Neighborhoods Partnerships Program and (2) the $2 million in one-time funds for after school regional resource centers to a block grant for disadvantaged schools, because the budget already provides sufficient funding to schools for these after school programs. We further recommend redirection of a related $240,000 augmentation in the state operations budget to support a departmental evaluation of the After School Learning and Safe Neighborhoods Partnerships Program, in order to determine the effectiveness of the program for future policy and budgetary decisions.

The budget provides $20 million under Item 6110-196-0001 for half-year costs of expanding the After School Learning and Safe Neighborhoods Partnerships Program to provide homework assistance and recreational activities to an additional 44,000 pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 through 9. This would increase the total funding available for grants under this program to about $108 million in the budget year, and would increase the number of students served to 142,000. This program gives priority to serving students from schools with at least 50 percent of pupils on free or reduced-price meals.

The introduced budget bill includes language authorizing the State Department of Education (SDE) to distribute the new grants through a competitive evaluation process based on the following priorities (1) new middle schools with at least 50 percent of pupils who qualify for free or reduced-price meals, (2) higher grant caps for participating middle schools with pupils on waiting lists to participate, (3) new elementary schools with at least 50 percent of pupils who qualify for free or reduced-price meals, and (4) higher grant caps for participating elementary schools with pupils on waiting lists to participate. Pursuant to current statute, these competitive grants would (1) be capped at $150,000 for elementary schools and $200,000 for middle and junior high schools and (2) require a dollar-for-dollar local match. Participating schools would be required to serve pupils after school on each regular school day for at least three hours and until at least 6 p.m.

The Governor's budget also includes $2 million in one-time funds under Item 6110-494 for after school regional resource centers to increase technical assistance and training to middle schools receiving funding under the After School Learning and Safe Neighborhoods Partnerships Program. In addition, the budget provides a $240,000 increase in state operations to support the proposed program expansion.

Multiple After School Programs With Similar Services. The overall purpose of the After School Learning and Safe Neighborhoods Partnerships Program, as authorized by Chapter 320, Statutes of 1998 (SB 1756, Lockyer), is to establish "after school enrichment programs that partner schools and communities to provide academic and literacy support and safe, constructive alternatives for youth." However, as highlighted in Figure 1, there are numerous programs available to California pupils after school. Many of these programs offer services that are very similar to those provided through the After School Learning and Safe Neighborhoods Partnerships Program, including homework assistance, academic tutoring, and various crime prevention activities. Currently, the state lacks informative data on the number of low-income or at-risk pupils that do not participate in any after school program.

Lack of Information on Program Effectiveness. We believe that the After School Learning and Safe Neighborhoods Partnerships Program has merit, though no quantitative data on its outcomes are currently available. Under current statute, participating schools are required to submit to SDE annual outcome reports that include data on academic performance, attendance, and behavioral changes. The 1999-00 Budget Act provided SDE with $100,000 to implement an evaluation model for the program. The preliminary evaluation report produced by the department provides no conclusive evidence regarding the program's effectiveness. This is because SDE's preliminary results are based on limited data with no controlled comparison to pupils who did not participate in the program.

In view of the above, we believe it is premature to fund such a significant expansion of this program. The department has not made a case as to the unmet need or the program's effectiveness. Consequently, we recommend that the Legislature redirect the $20 million for the expansion of the After School Learning and Safe Neighborhoods Partnerships Program to a block grant for disadvantaged schools. (We discuss our recommended Disadvantaged Schools Block Grant in detail earlier in this chapter.) Under our approach, districts would have the flexibility to use the funds in a manner that best meets their local needs, including after school programs. Given our recommendation to reject the Governor's proposal to expand the program, we also recommend redirection of the $2 million in one-time funds proposed for after school regional resource centers to the block grant. (Reduce Item 6110-494 by $2 million.) We further recommend that the Legislature redirect the $240,000 increase in state operations to support the department's ongoing evaluation of the After School Learning and Safe Neighborhoods Partnerships Program. The Legislature needs good information on the effectiveness of the program for future policy and budgetary decisions.

Student Academic Partnership Program

We recommend that the Legislature redirect the $10 million for the Student Academic Partnership Program to a block grant for disadvantaged schools, due to the lack of quantitative data on the program's effectiveness and the availability of other tutoring programs that serve the same purpose. (Reduce Item 6110-143-0001 by $10 million.)

The Governor's budget includes $10 million in new funds for the Student Academic Partnership Program, which was previously funded with federal Goals 2000 funds. The program provides competitive grants to school districts and county offices of education for college students to tutor pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 through 12 in reading, writing, and math. Under current law, tutoring services may be provided before, during, or after school. At the time of this analysis, SDE could not report on the number of K-12 pupils receiving tutoring services through this program. However, the department stated about 13,000 pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 through 6 were tutored in 1999-00. (The program was expanded in the current year to serve students in grades 7 through 12.)

Other Tutoring Resources. Although the intended purpose of the Student Academic Partnership Program has merit, this type of program already exists in many areas—either on a paid or unpaid basis. According to the California Commission on Improving Life Through Service, the federal AmeriCorps program provides approximately $40 million to the state in FFY 2001 for a variety of community service projects, including tutoring school-age children. We also point out that many of the state's higher education institutions offer programs for college students to tutor K-12 pupils. This is partly because the U.S. Department of Education encourages college students in the federal Work-Study Program to serve as reading and math tutors by waiving the requirement that employers pay part of their wages. (The federal Work-Study Program provides undergraduate and graduate students with part-time employment to help meet their financial needs and give them work experience, while helping the campus or surrounding community.) In addition, some students receive college credit for tutoring. Thus, there are currently a wide range of programs and funding available. It is unclear as to what unmet need is being specifically addressed by the proposed augmentation.

Program's Evaluation Not Informative. Pursuant to Chapter 811, Statutes of 1997 (SB 316, Hayden), SDE created an evaluation design for the Student Academic Partnership Program. Participating school districts used the evaluation design to assess the effectiveness of their programs and submitted their assessment data to SDE. Chapter 811 required SDE to submit a statewide evaluation report to the Legislature on or before March 1, 1999. The Legislature received such a report in March 1999, as well as a follow-up report in March 2000.

Our review of the evaluation indicates that there is little evidence to conclude that the program improves the academic performance of K-6 pupils. This is because the program's evaluation was based on very limited data—only 6 of the 22 participating districts and county offices of education submitted the requested data to SDE. The report concluded that the average reading and math percentile scores from the Stanford Achievement Test version-9 (SAT-9) for participating students increased from May 1998 to May 1999. However, these findings drew no comparisons to pupils not participating in the program (either from the same schools or from other schools in the state).

Given the availability of other resources to provide tutoring services to K-12 pupils and the lack of quantitative data on the program's effectiveness, we recommend that the Legislature redirect the $10 million for the Student Academic Partnership Program to our proposed Disadvantaged Schools Block Grant.

Academic Volunteer and Mentor Service Program

We recommend that the Legislature redirect the $5 million proposed for the expansion of the Academic Volunteer and Mentor Service Program to a block grant for disadvantaged schools, due to the (1) additional funds that will become available from expiring grants, (2) existence of other state and federal mentor programs, and (3) lack of conclusive evidence regarding the program's effectiveness. (Reduce Item 0650-111-0001 by $5 million.)

The budget provides a total of $15 million (Proposition 98, under Item 0650-111-0001) to OSE for the Academic Volunteer and Mentor Service Program, which funds local projects to recruit, screen, train, and place volunteers who want to act as mentors to children. This total includes a proposed augmentation of $5 million for OSE to expand the program to an additional 10,000 students (an estimated increase from 20,000 in current year to 30,000 students in budget year). The program, established by Chapter 901, Statutes of 1992 (SB 1114, Leonard), provides competitive grants up to $100,000 each year to over 145 local mentor programs operated by school districts and county offices of education.

Funding Available From Current Grants. According to OSE staff, there is a high demand on the part of districts and county offices of education to participate in the program. (This is based on the fact that only one-third of the total applications submitted in 1999-00 were awarded funding.) The OSE states that the proposed $5 million augmentation would "more fully meet the demand for program implementation throughout the state." However, the program—through its base funding—is already capable of supporting new applicants. This is because grants are awarded to districts and county offices each year for three years. As grants expire after the third year, funding from these grants becomes available to support new program sites. As a result, the grants funded by the $5 million augmentation provided in 1998-99 will terminate at the end of the current year. This will "free up" $5 million that could be used to support districts and county offices of education that did not receive a program grant in the past.

Various State and Federal Mentor Programs. Our review indicates the existence of various mentor programs that serve California's youth. As we presented earlier in Figure 1 of this section, the budget includes funding for other existing mentor programs—the California Mentor Initiative and the California Mentor Program—through the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs and the Department of Community Services and Development. Like the Academic Volunteer and Mentor Service Program, these two programs are designed to assist at-risk youth in becoming productive members of society. We also pointed out earlier that for FFY 2001 the federal AmeriCorps program provides about $40 million to California for community service projects, some of which provide mentoring services targeted to at-risk youth. Finally, many of the University of California's student-outreach programs also offer mentor programs to middle and high school students who are (1) from low-income families, (2) from groups historically underrepresented in colleges, or (3) will be the first in their families to attend college. Given the duplication of services provided through the above programs, we think it is unnecessary to expand the Academic Volunteer and Mentor Service Program at this time.

Evaluation Results Not Conclusive. In April 1999, the California Research Bureau (CRB) evaluated the effectiveness of the Academic Volunteer and Mentor Service Program in improving student achievement, attendance, and behavior. The evaluation report published by CRB highlighted several problems with the data that participating school districts and county offices of education provided for the evaluation. The poor quality of the data limited CRB's ability to conduct a quantitative analysis of the program. As a result, the CRB concluded that the evaluation results did not provide either general or specific indications that the program is successful. While the report did state that the results from a few school sites offer some support to the idea that academic mentoring may provide benefits for some children, CRB was quick to point out that such a weak endorsement should be viewed with caution. Similarly, we believe that the Legislature should be cautious about expanding the Academic Volunteer and Mentor Service Program at this time.

In view of our above concerns, we recommend that the Legislature reject the Governor's proposal to expand the Academic Volunteer and Mentor Service Program. We recommend redirection of the proposed $5 million augmentation to our proposed block grant for disadvantaged schools. (Reduce Item 0650-111-0001 by $5 million.)