On Tuesday, February 17, 2009 President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) into law. The $787 billion bill includes an unprecedented amount of funding for education, with significant opportunities for summer learning programs.

While none of the funds are explicitly targeted to summer learning programs, nearly all can potentially be used for summer programs. And while much of the funds will be used to prevent state budget cuts and prevent layoffs, additional funds are identified specifically to encourage reform and innovation in education. 

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan recently commented on the importance of summer learning:

What I worry about a lot is summer reading loss. You have kids who don't have a lot of books at home and aren't read to. … [Y]ou get kids to a certain point in June, and when they come back in September, they're further behind than when they left you three months ago. It's heartbreaking. I'm not saying we need to do more of the school day in the summer, but it's all the opportunities that middle class kids have, to develop a skill or interest, to get drama or athletics, to get tutoring or be read to.

— United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Education Daily, March 25, 2009

ARRA provides a significant opportunity for summer learning advocates to make the case to school administrators and other decision makers that summer learning programs should be funded by a portion of the new stimulus funds.

Read our September, 2009 Policy Brief: ARRA, School Improvement, and Summer Learning -- Funding Blueprint for States and Districts. The Association sent this policy brief to governors, chief state school officers, and education committee chairs in all 50 states, as well as key district superintendents accompanied by a letter from CEO Ron Fairchild. Advocates can use both the policy brief and letter in conversations with their policymakers to make the case for summer learning.

Read the U.S. Department of Education's April 24 paper, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009: Using ARRA Funds to Drive School Reform and Improvement featuring framing questions for decision making and examples of potential uses of funds to improve educational outcomes from early learning through high school. 

The National Summer Learning Association's leading efforts to provide tools for summer learning advocates, including talking points to make the case for summer with key stakeholders, and important information on how to potentially access these funds for summer programs.  Our website will be updated to continually provide you with the latest information.