Hoyer Works for Grants to Community Schools

POLITICO writes of House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer’s success in “a small but symbolic victory in the new Every Student Succeeds Act,” gaining inclusion in the act of at least  10 grants a year for full-service community schools.

The House took up consideration last week of the Every Student Succeeds Act Conference Report, which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Through this bill, Congress seeks to ensure all children in the United States have access to a quality education and the important resources and opportunities that make the American Dream possible.

By offering grants to districts serving low-income students, as well as funding for after school programming, STEM education, and arts education, the Every Student Succeeds Act will help young people prepare for college and careers.

Also included in the Every Student Succeeds Act is the Community Support for School Success program, which includes grant funding for Full-Service Community Schools to coordinate education with social services to ensure that they are delivered more efficiently and effectively so that students can succeed in school.The full-service community schools provide services for low-income students at school, providing programs such as health, early education, and juvenile justice services.

The issue of a full range of community support in schools has been a focus of Rep. Hoyer since working to establish early childhood educational centers in Maryland named  “Judy Centers” after his late wife Judith Hoyer, an early childhood educator.

When it comes to improving outcomes for poor and minority youth, “it does take a village-and often, that village is  compartmentalized,” Rep. Hoyer said. He’s been pushing the grant program through the appropriations process for several years and says he plans to continue this work in the years to come, both on and off Capitol Hill.

“This is a relatively small program that we need to take to scale,” Rep. Hoyer said. In the video below, speaking before Congress in support of the bill, Rep. Hoyer quotes Frederick Douglas, “It is easier to build strong children than repair broken men.”

 The Every Student Succeeds Act includes the Community Support for School Success program, which authorizes at least 10 grants, if not more, annually for the Full-Service Community Schools [FSCS] program. These grants will provide assistance to FSCS programs to improve the coordination and integration, accessibility, and effectiveness of services for children and families, according to Congressman Hoyer’s office.

• Each new Full-Service Community School grant will provide a minimum of $75,000 each year (up to five years, with a possible two year extension) to help FSCS programs strengthen their network of social services that help students succeed in school.
• A FSCS program must coordinate at least three of the existing pipeline services, listed below, when receiving a grant, as well as provide at least two additional pipeline services at two or more public elementary or secondary schools:
  • High-quality early childhood education programs
  • High-quality school and out-of school time programs and strategies
  • Support for a child’s transition to elementary school, from elementary school to middle school, from middle school to high school, and from high school into and through post-secondary education and into the workforce
  • Family and community engagement and supports including engaging or supporting families at school or at home
  • Activities that support workforce readiness including job training, internship opportunities and career counseling
  • Social, health, nutrition and mental health services and supports
  • Juvenile crime prevention and rehabilitation programs 
• Funding is set aside for grants to FSCS entities in rural areas
• Evaluations of the effectiveness of these grants will be monitored through the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences

Full-Service Community Schools are public elementary or secondary schools that house a wide range of existing social services under one roof, including:

• Primary health and dental care;
• Mental health and counseling services;
• Nutrition services;
• Mentoring;
• And adult education, job training, and career counseling services for parents.

By integrating education and the delivery of health and social services, students are more likely to succeed in the classroom and their parents are prepared to support their children’s learning, particularly those in low-income communities. The Full-Service Community School model is proven to help close the achievement gap for our most vulnerable students. Since Fiscal Year 2010, the Full-Service Community School program at the Department of Education has awarded 32 new grants in 13 states.

Evidence of the impact of the Community School Model is mounting across the country; take a by-the-numbers look at how they are growing:

• +150: Number of communities implementing community schools
• +5,000: Number of community schools across the country
• +10,000: Projected number of community schools in the country by 2020
• 9: Number of states introducing community school legislation
• +200: Number of national state and local partners in education, youth and community development, health and social services and related sectors promoting community schools, including the School Superintendents Association, After School Alliance, American Federation of Teachers, Boys and Girls Clubs, National Association of School Psychologists, National Education Association, School-Based Health Alliances, United Way Worldwide, and YMCA USA

For more information about House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer, visit his Leader Page.