Prop. 49 window expected to open and close quickly
Published: July 1, 2006
Stop, look and listen—funding opportunities for Proposition 49 after-school programs are expected to come and go quickly, warns California Department of Education Program Consultant John Malloy.
“Voters approved $550 million for after-school programs. We’re convinced that the train is going to come by, it’s going to stop once and that’s it,” Malloy said. “If you want to have a state after-school program, you’d better have it this year.” Local education agencies that secure funding this year will have an edge on other applicants in future years, Malloy explained.
Proposition 49 was crafted to take effect only after the state met the minimum K-14 funding guarantees for education under Proposition 98. This is the first year that has occurred since voters approved the measure in 2002. However, the state Education Department still must wait for implementation legislation to pass. That will probably happen under state Sen. Tom Torlakson’s Senate Bill 638, currently in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, Malloy said.
“They’ve been highly competitive grants,” Malloy said of the Before and After School Learning and Safe Neighborhood Partnerships Program that is now folded into the larger After School Education and Safety Program, which will administer the Proposition 49 grants and other before- and after-school programs. “We hope to have a far more simplified application process.”
Malloy urged local district officials to monitor the Education Department’s before- and after-school Web site to be ready to quickly respond to invitations to apply for funding.
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CDE Prop. 49 information