Upward Bound

Wow! What a weekend! I feel I have been running a million miles an hour for about a week straight and this weekend was particularly eventful. Most of the weekend involved state fair, birthday, and eating activities with the Fletcher/Eckstein/Joyner/Skidmore clan, which was GREAT, but one of the highlights was my first day with the Upward Bound program at Mountain View College on Saturday morning.

I may have mentioned previously that I will be working a few hours a month with Upward Bound, which is a federally funded grant program that targets low-income high school students who are potential first-generation college students and provides them with an array of resources and support to assist them in getting to college and completing college. There are Upward Bound programs across the country and, from what I see, they are quite successful in motivating and assisting students and families with achieving the goal of college. The particular program I work with targets students from five high schools in Dallas and Grand Prairie, including Kimball, where Dezeray goes. So I was able to get Dezeray and her mom the information and she applied and got in, which I am SO excited about. Upward Bound provides tutors and staff at each high school location to provide support throughout the week for the students in the program. They also host "Saturday Academies" twice a month in which students will receive SAT/ACT test prep instruction as well as a Written Word class and other informative workshops and seminars. The students also take lots of college trips and visits and other enrichment trips outside of the city. For example, they are going to New Orleans over the Thanksgiving break. I am just such a fan of programs like this that provide opportunities for students to see glimpses of the world outside of their Dallas, Texas neighborhoods and allows them to get some richer context for setting goals and dreams for their future.

My job will be to teach the Written Word class at the Saturday Academies. The goal is just to focus on writing skills and getting students more comfortable with expressing themselves through writing. I was a little nervous about the position at first because I have never taught high school students...all my experience has been with elementary and middle school children. To be honest, I've always secretly been a little intimidated by high school students. However, on Saturday, I was blown away by the maturity and focus of the 100-150 students who attended the Academy. I quickly decided I've been in middle school too long. I had no idea that kids eventually grow up a little and actually get some sense! (J/K). Our assignment on Saturday was to write letters to Congressmen because the federal funding for the Upward Bound program is in danger of being cut when the budget is voted on in November. I was really impressed at the writing ability of the students and the thoughtfulness of their letters. Also, I could tell from the letters how much this program has meant to them and what a loss it would be if the program had to close its doors.

When we look at what is going on in many of our public high schools, we tend to focus on the negative. We look at dropout rates and teen pregnancy rates and low test scores. We look at the gang activity and students who seem to be making all the wrong choices. We get so focused on those problems that all the potential in those schools gets overshadowed and overlooked. But what I loved on Saturday is that I looked out across a room and all I saw was potential. Hope. Determination. Good kids who want something better for themselves. I saw dozens of Dezerays and I was so happy that she is connecting with other kids who have the expectations and goals for themselves that she does. These are kids who believe education is a way out and they value these opportunities. I am so looking forward to knowing them better over the next few months and being a small part of the team that is working to make sure that they graduate with options and opportunities, despite the school, neighborhood, or income level they come from.

It has really been refreshing the past few weeks to get involved with programs like Upward Bound and to get more involved with the programs at Roseland with Central Dallas as well. Each day I meet kids that renew my hope and renew my commitment to doing whatever I can to make sure they get all the tools and resources they need to pursue whatever it is they want to pursue in life. It is so encouraging to be surrounded by adults and staff members who share that commitment. I don't always feel that same shared zeal here at my school, so I am really thriving off the encouragement and inspiration I get from my colleagues and co-workers in these other programs and organizations.

However, I am really alarmed that the Upward Bound program could be losing its funding in November. I just think investment in education is a terrible area to cut. Please read the following information about the funding for this program:

What is the Immediate Funding Crisis?

· The College Cost Reduction and Access Act (CCRAA) provided four years of funding to
support nearly 200 Upward Bound projects. These is a separate pot of money from the other funds that support all other TRIO projects. Once the CCRAA money is gone, Congress will need to find additional money to support the programs formerly funded by CCRAA.

· According to a recent letter from the Department of Education, the funding for the
CCRAA projects will expire on in the middle of the 2011-2012 academic year on
December 30, 2011. (See attached.) Important Note: Due to different funding cycles,
some of these projects have an end date of May 2012. To the best of our knowledge,
these projects will have funding through that time; however, they will still be subject to a severe squeeze in the number of projects that will be funded in the FY 2012 competition.

What is the Solution?

· We need Congress to put an additional $34 million in the FY 2011 appropriations
legislation to fund the CCRAA projects through the remainder of the 2011-2012 program
year. Otherwise, these projects will expire before the next grant competition, which will be in FY 2012 (and fund projects that will be in academic year 2012-2013).

· We only have one talking point: Unless you put $34 million into Upward Bound in FY
2011, we will lose 200 programs serving 12,000 students!

What Happens Next?
· Members of Congress are actively campaigning around their home states and districts.Over the next several weeks they will be meeting with constituents to try and earn their votes in the upcoming midterm elections. Once they return on November 15, they will pass one or more of the following pieces of legislation. Our objective is to get funding into one of these pieces of appropriations legislation:

o Continuing Resolution (CR) This is a short-term, stop-gap measure to keep
the government running after the end of the fiscal year (September 30). The
current CR runs through December 3, 2010. Congress will have to pass another
CR or an omnibus (see below) before that date.
o Omnibus Appropriations Bill (omnibus or sometimes called minibus) This is a longer-term bill that combines several appropriations bills into one larger
bill. Because the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill, which funds TRIO,
is often controversial (due to issues relating to healthcare), this will likely be
linked with other, less controversial spending bills. An omnibus bill usually lasts
for a longer period of time, possibly even until the end of the fiscal year
(September 30).

· Due to the ever-changing nature of the political game, we won't know which vehicle
Congress will use to set spending for the rest of FY 2011. They very well might pass
something that lasts only until the beginning of next year. Regardless of whichever
route they choose, our message stays the same: Support putting $34 million into
Upward Bound in FY 2011 or we will lose 200 programs serving 12,000 students
next year!

What Should We Do?
· There are several ways that you can reach out to your legislators to get their support:
o Attend townhall meetings and public forums
§ Be sure to bring large groups wearing TRIO hats, pins, sweatshirts, etc.
§ Come ready to ask about this issue and ask for their leadership in taking
care of this situation.
o Request face-to-face meetings at local offices
o Ask your institutional leaders to write letters requesting funds
· Make it clear to legislators that these programs serving students in their community WILL go away after December 2011 unless they take action.

Points to make:
o The longevity of the program in your community (Is it an older, well-established
program that people have come to rely on? Is it a brand new program serving
pent-up demand for services?)
o The impact of the program in your community (e.g., provide success rates for
your students applying, getting into and graduating from college.)
· Be sure to involve your institutional and community leaders, parents, students, and
alumni! We need all hands on deck if we are to be successful!

I would ask anyone reading this (which may be no one) to take a moment to advocate for the continuance of this program, whether by contacting your U.S. legislators by letter, phone call, or email. I wish all of you that do read this blog had the opportunity to get to know some of these amazing kids that I get to interact with each and every day. If you could know them and see the potential they have first hand, you would know every dollar invested in them and their future is worth it! Let's work together to invest our tax money in stuff that has some positive return...like educated, productive leaders and citizens! Let me know if you have questions or suggestions!