HOUSE SPEAKER DELEO, MAYOR MENINO TO JOIN POLICYMAKERS TO DISCUSS IMPORTANCE OF AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS
Contact:
Boston After School & Beyond
Chris Smith, 617-345-5322
Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership
Gwynn Huges,617-338-0040
Julie Albert617-338-0005
(Boston, MA) - House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo and Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino will join 260 prominent state and city officials, research experts, policy-makers, and leaders in the education and youth development fields to forge partnerships for student learning. The Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership (MAP) and Boston After School & Beyond will convene the inaugural Connecting Communities Policy Symposium on Afterschool and Extended Learning Opportunities on Wednesday, October 28, 8:30 AM-12:30 PM at the Omni Parker Hotel.
Speaker Robert A. DeLeo will welcome attendees and deliver the day's charge of building on the strengths of high-quality expanded learning opportunities to develop a unified, statewide policy platform on these critical programs that will ensure that the educational and developmental needs of children, youth and families continue to be met.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino will release the city's Education Pipeline plan, which outlines a strategy from "birth through college success." "We can't rest on our laurels," said Menino, who has made afterschool learning a priority since taking office. "Afterschool and expanded learning programs need to be part of a comprehensive agenda for youth. Our support for children starts before they even enter the world and extends right through college." The plan features the city's "community learning" initiative, which coordinates to offerings of schools, community centers, and libraries.
Senator Thomas McGee (Lynn), co-chair of the Massachusetts Afterschool Commission and chair of the House Committee on Labor and Workforce Development, will address the necessity of coordinated expanded learning programs as a workforce imperative. "In these challenging times, afterschool programs mean so much to helping children reach their full potential. These programs help them develop the skills that enhance their ability to excel in the future and to fill the high skill jobs that drive our state's economy" stated Senator McGee.
The gathering of leaders comes a week after the national Afterschool Alliance released its landmark America After 3PM study, which named Massachusetts as one of just six "States on the Move for Afterschool for All" list. According to the report, "Massachusetts in one of only a handful of states to see afterschool participation increase... no state had a larger increase." From 2004 to 2009, afterschool participation in Massachusetts increased from 11% to 18%, yet the percentage of children spending time in self care also increase, from 21% to 26%.
A panel of city and nonprofit leaders, including Mayor Lisa Wong of Fitchburg, Claudio Martinez of the Hyde Square Task Force in Boston, Thomas J. Stella of the Everett Public Schools, and Tiffany Cooper Gueye of Building Education Leaders for Life (BELL) will offer policy strategies, based on a new report commissioned for this event: Expanded Learning Opportunities: Pathways to Student Success, authored by compiled by Dr. Priscilla M. Little of the Harvard Family Research Project. The report portrays effective expanded learning models, locally and nationally, at a time when many in the education community are looking to the considerable burden of evidence in applying for the new $650 million federal Invest in Innovation (I3) Fund, to be administered by the US Department of Education.
Despite a new competition for federal funds, the state continues to face a difficult budget climate. Leaders from across the state are drawing examples from Boston for weaving together school reform and after-school strategies. The goal of the event is to create a statewide policy platform to support policy expanded learning partnerships in the Commonwealth. Several key line items serve expanded learning partnerships at different age levels: After School & Out of School Time (ASOST), Expanded Learning Time (ELT), School Age Child Care Licensure, and Out of School Time (OST) Services for older youth.
This event is being held with the support of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, The Boston Foundation, the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, and an anonymous foundation.
###About the Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership
Established in 2003, the Massachusetts Afterschool Partnership (MAP) is the only statewide 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in Massachusetts dedicated to expanding afterschool and extended learning opportunities for school-age children, youth, families and communities that support the whole child, the whole day, throughout the whole year.
About Boston After School & Beyond
Boston After School and Beyond is a public-private partnership dedicated to supporting, strengthening, and expanding Boston's out-of-school time (OST) system. By aligning school and out-of-school efforts, Boston Beyond seeks to advance the development of a unified system of high quality and engaging opportunities that meet the needs of Boston's youth.