SAGINAW, Mich. (WNEM) – The future of a math and science tutoring program, up in the air for 65 school districts across Michigan.
The executive director of the Michigan Education Corps tells TV5 in late-April its parent organization AmeriCorps was on the receiving end of cuts by the Trump administration.
Now, clock is ticking to keep its tutoring program in place beyond this school year.
“We are 240 individuals that are serving in over 65 schools throughout the state. And we’re serving just shy of 4,000 kids age 3 to grade 8 in reading and math. So the potential impact is huge,” said Holly Windram, the executive director of the Michigan Education Corps.
Windram said the a loss of funding could affect the ability to provide tutors to the school districts it serves. Windram tells TV5 these low-cost, high impact tutors work with students on reading and math every school day. As a result, student attendance has increased, along with classroom confidence and participation, and 75 percent of students in the program are closing their achievement gaps.
Even though the federal grant dollars are gone, Windram believes there’s still enough money left to make it through the end of this school year.
“Next year is another big question mark, because we already have all of our schools and members that are ready to start serving in august, and we’re trying to figure out how we’re going to be able to organize resources to profit this critical service to our school partners,” Windram said.
It’s too early to know where those dollars may come from, but she’ll be looking in the direction of state lawmakers for help.
“We do have a grant in the state school aid budget, and so one of the places we are looking is to our local legislators and saying hey, we’ve got communities in your backyard, throughout the state of Michigan, urban, rural, east, west, all over the state. And can we see an increase? Can we figure out how we can get more state dollars to offset the loss federally,” Windram said.
Windram points out that her program is just one of many AmeriCorps programs impacted by these cuts. She tells TV5 that AmeriCorps has almost 8,000 people serving or volunteering in Michigan.
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