Why Conservatives Should Love AmeriCorps, Not Kill It

House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers' (R-KY) proposal to eliminate funding for AmeriCorps is no surprise, but wrongheaded -- even for conservatives.

Despite the bipartisan majorities that created AmeriCorps in 1993, saved it a decade later when it was last at serious risk, and enacted the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act less than two years ago, radical conservatives still can't get past the program's association with Bill Clinton. Or the fact that AmeriCorps members receive poverty-level living allowances and modest college scholarships in exchange for their year of service. (We get it -- they are not volunteers; they are people willing to work for a year in some of the most dire circumstances for practically nothing.)

Sadly, their ideological extremism prevents Congressional naysayers from reading for comprehension. If they did, they would understand that AmeriCorps is the kind of government program they ought to support.

Three decades ago, President Ronald Reagan called for a bigger role for charities in solving the problems of the country. He looked to volunteers to play a bigger role. But volunteers aren't free -- somebody needs to recruit them and manage them -- and charities often struggle for resources, especially during down economies. AmeriCorps members, by recruiting and supervising community volunteers, make it possible for millions of people to make a real difference. As a result, the charitable sector is stronger and volunteers more effective, thereby lessening the need for greater government spending.

While associated with President Clinton, AmeriCorps is actually based on a demonstration program signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. It was enacted with bipartisan support, boldly expanded by President George W. Bush, championed by Republican Presidential nominee Senator John McCain (R-AZ), and further expanded through the bi-partisan Edward M. Kennedy Act co-written by conservative Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT).

In fact, its design is eerily similar to the model proposed by House Budget Committee Chaiman Paul Ryan (R-WI) to reshape workforce development policy in his Roadmap for America's Future. It's based on competition -- 100% of AmeriCorps funds are competed every three years -- there are no presumptive providers or guaranteed grantees. Unlike many government programs, those who don't perform don't get refunded, and those who break the rules have their grants pulled early. AmeriCorps is outcome-focused -- every AmeriCorps program establishes and reports on progress toward outcomes. And it leverages private sector support -- this year, nearly every federal dollar was matched by a private sector contribution.

All that is important. But the most important reason for liberals, moderates, conservatives and everyone else to support AmeriCorps is the critical role it is playing in solving America's biggest problems. Take education.

City Year, an AmeriCorps program, is helping end the dropout crisis by putting extra human resources in schools to keep students in school and on track. In a pilot study, it significantly reduced absenteeism and behavior problems - and increased student performance in math and reading. It has a robust plan to reach 50 percent of the nation's dropout factories, a goal that can't be met without AmeriCorps support.

Experience Corps, also an AmeriCorps program, is helping struggling readers achieve literacy by the end of third grade. Research documents that found that kids tutored by Experience Corpsmembers, who are adults aged 55 plus, make more progress in reading than their peers.

Jumpstart, another AmeriCorps program, starts even earlier, with preschoolers. With the support of the college students in Jumpstart, these low-income preschoolers start school ready to read in greater numbers than the kids who didn't get the extra attention.

With AmeriCorps support, Teach For America is filling hard-to-fill teaching positions with America's top college graduates, who are outperforming even experienced teachers in many schools. This weekend, 10,000 program alumni are gathering in Washington, DC, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Teach For America. Almost all of these alumni -- amazing people who have, for the most part, stayed in the teaching field, or become education reformers, principals, civic leaders, and social entrepreneurs -- were AmeriCorps members. And if AmeriCorps had not funded the organization in the early 1990s, Teach For America would probably have folded, if one is to believe Wendy Kopp's own account of the early years of the organization.

Without AmeriCorps, these programs and others like them will have to reduce their reach dramatically, or close sites all together.

Other organizations beloved by Americans have similarly relied on AmeriCorps support in small or large part -- Habitat for Humanity, the Red Cross, and Boys and Girls Clubs all receive resources, as do thousands of grassroots groups. If the House conservatives have their way, who knows how many of these bedrock neighborhood organizations will have to shut their doors or turn away people in need?

We do know that as many as 100,000 jobs will go away if AmeriCorps is zeroed out as Chairman Rogers proposes.

For nearly two decades, AmeriCorps members have been doing the hard work of building educational and economic opportunity in hard-hit neighborhoods across America. Zeroing out the program will have immediate economic consequences in every one of those places.

And it will have lasting consequences for our country if we turn away the time and talent of those willing, but not able, to serve. That's something all of us should appreciate, whatever our ideology.

 

 

 

Follow Shirley Sagawa on Twitter: www.twitter.com/WayToChange

Comments

[daydreambeliever926]

04:48 PM on 02/17/2011

Here is how you can help:
The budget bill being considered in the House of Representatives, led by Appropriations Chair Rogers (R-KY), THIS WEEK could eliminate funding for AmeriCorps.
So what can you do? We need you to CALL YOUR MEMBER OF CONGRESS TODAY. It is imperative that we reach all of them multiple times! This simple act could make a difference in so many lives and it only takes a few minutes. Go to www.house.gov to look up your representatives and their numbers (put your zip in the upper left hand corner and click go). Then check out www.americorpsalums.org for talking points to make the call a breeze.
MOST IMPORTANT! TELL CONGRESS HOW THIS WOULD HURT THEIR COMMUNITY!
Given the severity of the cuts proposed by the House, you may experience some difficulty calling the Capitol. It is important that you keep trying. If you can't reach your representative by phone, please send a fax communication to their office. This is time sensitive ask and we need you to act now. Emails or mailed letters will not reach the decision makers in time. It is critical that our lawmakers hear from the constituents directly impacted by their decisions.

Thank you for your commitment to service, we can't win without you.

[daydreambeliever926]

04:46 PM on 02/17/2011

Because of AmeriCorps I now see the world and this amazing city in a way I know I would not have 5 years ago. I see the opportunities for neighbors to become friends through helping to build a community garden. I see a decrepit park that has been revitalized by volunteers to now be a beautiful new green space for families to take their kids to. I see a school that has a newly painted cafeteria with inspiring murals. I see the soup kitchens, the homeless and domestic shelters that serve families and individuals to get help them get back on their feet again. I see seniors who have learned how to use the internet to send emails to their loved ones. I see a group of kids on a field trip with volunteers to a museum or theater show, a place they would never have gotten the chance to go to before. My eyes are still the same, but what I see now is completely different. Keeping the AmeriCorps program would allow hundreds of thousands of others to change their perspectives and to keep the volunteer service cycle going.

[daydreambeliever926]

04:46 PM on 02/17/2011

And that's what I did. In less than a month I had made the decision to commit myself for a year program as an AmeriCorps Vista. Hands-down the best decision I've made. It allowed me to finally experience something on my own, in a city that although only a few hours away, felt like a world away. I made the choice to live on a stipend at the poverty-level, to use food stamps just like the clients we were helping at the organization I was positioned at and to move away from any sort of comfort that I had known. This experience gave me perspective, it gave me confidence in myself to know that I can and have made a difference. This experience inspired me to want to inspire others through service. Flash forward 5 years later, and I am still working in the non-profit world interacting on a daily basis with volunteers from all over New York City.

[daydreambeliever926]

04:45 PM on 02/17/2011

I can't imagine what my life would have been like without AmeriCorps. I might still be living in the same suburban town that I was born in, working as a security guard after completing my bachelors degree wondering what a better option would have been. Fortunately I took the better option, joined AmeriCorps 6 months after college graduation, moved to New York City and 5 years later I am living as a proud member of this city that I had the opportunity to serve. I never had to do an internship in college, I was never one of those kids that got to study abroad on a scholarship or on their parents' income. I went to a college 45 minutes away from where I was raised and spent most weekends working back in my hometown so I could pay for school. When I graduated I never experienced such a free feeling like that before in my life. I could do anything, be anyone, learn whatever I wanted, move to a new town or a new country, make a life for myself based on MY decisions. At the peak of the hurricane Katrina disaster I found myself like most, wanting to give back but didn't know how. I knew about the PeaceCorps and was looking into that when I was enlightened by someone telling me about a domestic option- AmeriCorps. I was intrigued that I could basically pick where in my country I wanted to serve, apply and hopefully get accepted.

[booksnmoreforyou]

01:10 PM on 02/15/2011

In the late 1990s I did a year of service with AmeriCorps in an adult literacy program. With my education award I completed college and became an adult literacy (GED) instructor for two years. Today I hold a Master's degree in adult education, am responsible for all supplemental instruction at a community college, and will complete my doctorate in the field in 2012. How did the country's investment in me pan out?

[Hunter Dougherty]

12:15 PM on 02/15/2011

I am currently employed by AmeriCorps and find this ridiculious. Instead of cutting something productive why aren't we cutting $100 million nuclear bomb tests? Or the 'war' going on in the middle east? Why are the rich getting richer, and the poor getting increasingly poor. Most of the AmC members are already struggling to get by but we deal with it because of the feeling we get from giving back to the community. It infuriates me that people can sit back in their chairs and point fingers on what to do, but never do anything. We are the people attempting to make a difference, and if you plan on cutting AmC then I hope to see those who are for the cut, out in the community helping those who need it.

[dojone]

06:49 PM on 02/14/2011

Eliminate the budget for the DEA and the war on drugs or use it for something worthwhile like this organization.

[dojone]

05:07 PM on 02/14/2011

If they are truly serious about cutting spending, start with the biggest failure in our history. The war on drugs has accomplished nothing except increase the prison population. Defund the DEA!!!

[dadw5boys]

03:54 PM on 02/14/2011

Why not cut these grants first ?

Israel Tennis Center (Goggle it ) ---- built 13 Tennis Centers in Israel -- they got $ 8,978,000 Million Dollars this year that is $34,060,000 Million Dollars in the last 5 years !!! Federal Grants!!!!

Israel Venture Network (Goggle it)got $ 1,875,519 Million Dollars last year they send 99 % straight to Israel to help Israeli Youth find jobs.

Tampa JCC-FEDERATION INC – $3,467,706 Million Dollars in 2008–
12,439, 277 Million Dollar the last 5 years

[George Hanshaw]

03:38 PM on 02/14/2011

Kust today the Treasury Secretary announced that the deficit for this year's budget will likely be !1.65 Trillion rather than the previously announced figure of $1.48 Trillion.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703361904576143253522341850.html

What that means is that instead of borrowing 40 cents for every dollar we spend this year, we'll be borrowing 43 cents.

Today also marked the day the national debt exceeded the annual gross domestic product. We - as a country - now OWE more than everyone in the country actually MAKES in a year.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/feb/14/debt-now-equals-total-us-economy/

That's the first time that has happened since WWII.

All of this background just points out the situation that makes arguing about Americorps absolutely ridiculous. Our current level of spending is simply unsustainable. We can no longer afford nice-to-have programs, and surely no one is suggesting that Americorps is essential? It didn't even exist until 1993 so we obviously got along nicely without it for over two hundred years.

Look, things are getting sort of desperate here. Elmo, Amtrak, Americorps, CPB/PBS - none of these things are remotely essential. They all should be on the chopping block.

[AC Guts]

08:12 PM on 02/14/2011

Without the AmeriCorps program you would have more than 100,000 people out of work. Plus the devastating effect to undeserved communities, NGOs and the youth of this nation who are being hit hardest by the current economy. Why don't we cut the defense budget in half at least, defund the the DEA and end the senseless war on drugs, tax and regulate marijuana and other less harmful substances, ACTUALLY end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, end oil subsidies, eliminate corporate tax loop holes, end tax exempt religious status, stop a majority of our foreign aid (particularly to countries like Israel that do nothing but further destabilize already unstable areas and are nothing but a headache for U.S. international relations) ect ect ect. The list goes on for days, we could eliminate thousands of programs, departments and other things that do not benefit the American people before we cut beneficial programs like AmeriCorps, Public Broadcasting, Amtrak (why don't we have a functional train system in the country? the rest of the world seems to) or other things that actually help Americans. What would you cut? The things you list aren't even close to a drop in the bucket compared with other things like the drug war and our bloated defense budget.

[Allie Bernhard]

10:11 PM on 02/14/2011

if you knew anything about americorps you would know that programs that have since been incorporated into the americorps umbrella have been going on since the 1960's.

[Phoenix]

03:05 PM on 02/14/2011

Of all the stupid, stupid cuts being proposed, the cutting of Americorps is the worst offering by a long shot. As a person who volunteers in a variety of settings, I have seen firsthand how well it bolsters programs that make a real difference to people.

[gevan]

02:39 PM on 02/14/2011

The modern "conservative" in the Congressional wing of the Republican Party is dead set against any expenditure of federal dollars intended to improve the country they profess to love. If the 1984 campaign was "morning in America" they will probably have to run on "it's sunset in America" in 2012.

[broui]

02:26 PM on 02/14/2011

Several years ago, I recieved $10,000 in grants towards my student loans from Americorps. The purpose was a focused approach to education reform classroom by classroom. I continue to use and hone that which I studied then. I EARNED that 10 grand.

Americorps should continue. It is SERVING America in more ways than we know.

[Edward Standley]

01:54 PM on 02/14/2011

But heck, "Americorp" just sounds soshulist!

[Michael Overboe]

01:47 PM on 02/14/2011

Maybe just maybe the conservatives have it all wrong. It seems that they attract the fools and people with the worst education. Why on earth would anyone support a group of people that want to go back to the dark ages? How, in good conscious can anyone listen to someone that wants to tell you how to live, think and what to do?

Save the USA never vote for a conservative ever again!