Breakfast Club Blog
The BOOST Breakfast Club Blog is a curated space where bloggers from around the world contribute content on a continual basis about a variety of topics relevant to in and out-of-school time. The BOOST Breakfast Club blog is at the heart of an ongoing dialogue where expanded learning and education professionals share their personal thoughts and stories from the in and out-of-school time field. They also tell us what they ate for breakfast!
The BOOST Breakfast Club Blog is Brain Food for In and Out-of-School Time Leaders!
Interested in becoming a blogger? Email breakfastclub@boostcollaborative.org
Click here to Register for a free account or click here to Login to your existing account.
Together We Make a Difference – FREE DOWNLOAD
Many years ago, I arrived at a middle school to evaluate an after school program. As with all site visits, I checked in to the school office and asked where the after school program was located. They were unsure of which “after school program” I was actually looking for. This school, like most, had over a dozen programs happening simultaneously throughout their campus during after school hours. I found the state-funded after school program (that I was on campus to evaluate) and quickly learned t...Read More
What is advocacy, why does it matter, and how can you make a difference in just 10 minutes from your desk?
Why does advocacy matter? Did you know that 1 out of 3 students in California can’t identify a single caring adult at school? [1] Research shows that access to caring adults is critical for the development and success of youth, and expanded learning programs often provide these relationships that students depend on. [2] Advocating for these programs increases access to caring adults and safe spaces in and out of school that are necessary to support student success. In 2015 and 2016, the Partners...Read More
ASES Programs Caught in a Fiscal Squeeze
In November, 2002, California citizens passed Proposition 49, which requires the Legislature to annually appropriate not less than $550 million to the California Department of Education for the After School Education and Safety (ASES) Program. The Proposition passed with a financial trigger that delayed the release of the appropriation until the 2006/07 fiscal year. The funding has been level since that time, unlike many other programs that were decimated during the recession, but despite its pr...Read More
The Unintended Impact of Minimum Wage Increases on After-School Programs
Minimum Wage Law I will assume that most of you reading this post, like me, applauded Governor Brown’s September, 2013, decision to sign into law a bill that will raise California’s minimum wage from $8 to $9 beginning on July 1, 2014, and then to $10 beginning on January 1, 2016. And I will also assume that most of you figured the primary beneficiaries of this decision would be minimum wage workers – like the folks who say “Welcome to Walmart” or “Do you want fries...Read More
Join the Discussion – Proposed Changes to 21st Century Community Learning Center Funding
As many of you have heard, the Partnership for Children & Youth (PCY) is putting together state legislation to make improvements to the 21st Century Community Learning Center program. The proposed changes are based on aspects of the current law that we’ve heard for many years create barriers or are difficult to administer in the field. Our goal is to make the funding easier to apply for and implement, and to be strategic about how we use federal funding in concert with our state after ...Read More
Protecting Proposition 49 Funding May Not Protect Providers
The section of California Education Code that establishes the After School Education and Safety (ASES) Program describes its purpose as follows: “…to create incentives for establishing locally driven before and after school enrichment programs… that partner public schools and communities to provide academic and literacy support and safe, constructive alternatives for youth.” The majority of ASES programs operate according to partnership models in which a local education a...Read More