Advocate for Fair Funding

	QUICK FACTS » In four out of five families, every adult works outside the home. » More than 15 million American kids have no adult supervision after school. » More than half of all teens in a recent survey said they would watch less TV and play fewer video games if they had other things to do after school.

What We Do

TASC advocates with policymakers and elected officials to shape policy and grow sustainable public funding for expanded learning opportunities. Our goal is to achieve more equitable, efficient and sustainable support for programs and schools that educate the whole child—intellectually, emotionally and creatively—and to meet the needs of millions of kids who have no access to high quality learning activities beyond the traditional school day and year.

How We Do It

We build, lead and join in coalitions at the state and local level to advocate with policymakers and elected officials. We support the Afterschool Alliance, the leading national advocacy organization. We advise foundations, government agencies, educators and others who are working to make systems fairer and more efficient and to partner schools with community organizations to help them expand kids’ learning time and opportunities.

TASC and the New York State Afterschool Network led the way in New York State to establish a governor’s working group to coordinate the efforts of state agencies to move toward a unified system of after-school throughout the state.

Why We Do It

An estimated 400,000 kids in New York City and 15 million in the nation are shut out of programs beyond school hours. They lack opportunity to develop the interests that motivate them to stay in school. And unless they have access to after-school and summer programs that keep their kids safe, many parents simply can’t work 9-to-5 hours.

Beyond that, funding for expanded learning opportunities in New York City, the state and the nation is unstable in the face of recession. We are dedicated to building sustainable expanded learning opportunities that make more efficient use of public funding to reach more kids, especially those with the greatest needs and the least access to schools that prepare them to succeed in a knowledge economy.