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The U.S. Department of Education wants to make it easier for families to find high-quality summer and afterschool programs and for schools and local governments to use federal relief funds to pay for them.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Thursday announced 鈥� a partnership with five leading organizations to bring information and research about out-of-school-time programs together into one 鈥渃entralized, readily available location.鈥� The department will seek applications from an outside organization for a $3-$4 million contract in next year鈥檚 budget to run the initiative. 

鈥淲e鈥檙e at a pivotal point In America’s recovery,鈥� Cardona said during an event in Washington D.C. involving students, education officials and advocates. 鈥淚f we can reopen school during a pandemic, we can make sure students have access to quality programs.鈥�

The event coincided with National Summer Learning Week, but Cardona didn鈥檛 offer specific details on how districts already running this year鈥檚 summer programs can benefit.

Coming a week after Cardona joined with White House officials to announce a new effort to recruit 250,000 , the announcement is the latest from the administration to emphasize urgency in addressing learning loss and students鈥� disconnection from school during the pandemic. According to the department鈥檚 release, the effort builds on two decades of funding for afterschool and summer learning programs in low-income schools through the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grants.The department seeks $1.3 billion in the fiscal year 2023 budget for 21st Century funding, an increase of $50 million over 2021 and 2022.

鈥淲e know that our young people have lost contact with friends, teachers and mentors over the past two years,鈥� Daniel Domenech, executive director of AASA, the School Superintendents Association, said in a statement. The organization is part of the effort, along with the Afterschool Alliance, the National Comprehensive Center, the National League of Cities and the National Summer Learning Association.

The new initiative can be helpful if it advises states how to use existing federal grant programs to pay for summer and afterschool when American Rescue Plan funding dries up, said Nicholas Munyan-Penney, a senior policy analyst at Education Reform Now. This week, the think tank released on how states are already using relief funds for summer school. 

Experts could also help states and districts evaluate which programs improve students鈥� academic performance and mental health outcomes so they can 鈥減hase out less effective programming,鈥� he said.

But Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education, a think tank that has tracked districts鈥� responses to the pandemic, said the additional funding seems small compared to the need to better understand what works. And it comes when the Institute for Education Sciences, the department鈥檚 research arm, already doesn鈥檛 have enough funding to meet the demand. 

鈥淚t feels a bit like a 鈥榝iddling while Rome burns鈥� moment for the feds,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ur students are facing extraordinary needs. Now is the time for a serious and strategic commitment of resources from the federal government for research and development.鈥� 

The Center鈥檚 research also suggests districts are doing less this year, not more. Its June analysis showed a drop in districts planning summer programming, except for students with disabilities. And in June, the Afterschool Alliance released showing that just one in five afterschool providers has received relief funds.

Last summer, many districts also struggled to hire enough staff to meet the demand, despite pay incentives. And the Afterschool Alliance survey showed two-thirds of program leaders were worried they wouldn鈥檛 have enough staff this year. 

Even when districts plan to serve students with disabilities, they often end up cutting back. A Buffalo, New York-area district reduced for special education students because of staff shortages, and the Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland shifted its program for about 175 students because of a lack of staff.

Some parents also question whether districts have done enough outside of the school year to move students back up to grade level. Alicia Aleman, who has three children in California鈥檚 Fresno Unified School District, enrolled them in last year鈥檚 summer program.

鈥淭hey offer programs for math or science, but they鈥檙e only making cookies. They鈥檙e watching movies,鈥� she said, adding that low-income families don鈥檛 have choices because they are working and 鈥渘eed someone to take care of the kids during the summer.鈥� 

This year, she tried to sign up for a program through the city, but 鈥渁ll the spots are taken by the time the flyers go to the community.鈥�

Fresno Unified, however, has significantly expanded summer programs with $40 million in state funding, boosting enrollment from about 4,000 at a limited number of sites last year to roughly 15,000 this year at every elementary school and middle school. The district is contracting with a range of nonprofit organizations and colleges to offer sports and arts camps, with tutoring built in. 

The funding 鈥渁llows us to remove historical barriers [like] making kids get on the bus and go across town,鈥� said Jeremy Ward, the district鈥檚 assistant superintendent for college and career readiness. 鈥淢y biggest fear is that we consider this work as a flash in the pan 鈥� we influse money for a year or two and then we pull back.鈥�

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