The Washington Examiner
D.C. budget lauded by children's advocates
By Leah Fabel
Monday, June 7, 2010
The D.C. Council restored millions of dollars for children's programs, a move praised by advocates.
About $1 million went toward the city's Year Round Youth Employment Program; $3.5 million went to funding child care subsidies; $2 million was given to subsidies for grandparent caregivers. Those three programs were among the youth-related cuts made by Mayor Adrian Fenty in an attempt to close a $550 million gap in the city's $5 billion budget.
A politically popular effort to expand free, voluntary pre-kindergarten for all 3- and 4-year-olds in the city received its full funding -- about $18 million. Charter schools will receive about $200 more per student to pay for facilities, bringing the city's total outlay to about $3,000 per student.
"In terms of pre-k, we're thrilled the city is staying on track," said Carrie Thornhill, president and CEO of Pre-K for All DC. "Pre-k enrollment is what is keeping the D.C. Public Schools from having a decline in enrollment."
Despite some increases, many remain dissatisfied.
The $3,000 allotted per student to charter schools is still about half of the allowance to D.C. Public Schools students, said Barnaby Towns, spokesman for Friends of Choice in Urban Schools.
"Obviously we're pleased with the increase, but it doesn't make up for the inequity," Towns said.
One of the budget's brighter spots, he said, is the council's creation of a commission to study equity in public school funding.
Judith Sandalow, executive director of the Children's Law Center, commended some "terrific last-minute restorations" to the budget -- including $1 million to provide rapid housing for homeless families. In mid-May, Sandalow said, the city's Department of Human Services counted 11 families on the streets, unable to find room in shelters.
But she worried the big picture remains bleak and was disappointed the council didn't pass a higher income tax on the city's highest wage earners.
"We clawed back most, but not all, of the cuts the mayor made. But that's in the context of having lost dramatically over the past several years," she said, citing ongoing issues like a several-years-long decline in dollars available for child-care subsidies.
"We went in with the safety net frayed, and we didn't succeed in mending it," Sandalow said.