Limited funding limits CROP
I commend Ms. Pimentel for her praise and support of the CROP program's efforts to increase student academic performance, provide youth development to our children and provide literacy and other educational development for CROP families.
I understand her frustration, and if I had my way, all school districts would be eligible for the CROP program. However, the CROP program is funded through No Child Left Behind's 21st Century Community Learning Center's section, whose purpose is to close achievement gaps that, according to studies, clearly exist and continue to widen between students from low socioeconomic statuses, or SES, and those from a higher SES.
The New York State Department of Education has set three priority groups for this funding: Schools in Need of Improvement, programs targeting high school non-completers and free and reduced lunch. The only eligibility category that our consortium of schools meets is free and reduced lunch, and this is why CROP must give priority to these families.
Adding insult to injury, the president and Congress have not fully funded the 21st CCLC program since its inception. According to initial legislation, funding levels should be at $2.5 billion nationally, but in 2007 it was only funded at $1.1 billion and recently the president has proposed cutting the funding for 2008 by $300 million. Clearly, this is a step in the wrong direction for our communities that value after-school and summer programming.
I wish that all schools were eligible and all students had opportunities to participate in free after-school and summer programs. However, with limited funding and stiff competition for this funding, our communities are fortunate to have this program. If there are concerns about the eligibility requirements, I urge you to again contact your congressional leaders.
Kris Kaschak
Oneonta
Kaschak is CROP program director at ONC BOCES.
Using available oil gives us time
In response to the letter from Mr. Monzeglio, it sounds like he has been smoking the same pipe as most of the liberals.
He is right about oil not being the future.
More oil is a temporary fix, but it will give enough time for other technology to be refined to the point it can be used.
Not using the oil that is available in this country is like having a pantry full of food but not eating it because, if we wait a few months we can get food from the garden _ if we do not starve to death first.
As for voting for Obama, maybe you should pay a little more attention to the columns from the right, such as Tom Sears and others, then research for yourself to find the truth.
Jim Hitchcock
Stamford
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