Tell Congress to oppose president's cuts to community learning centers

Editor,

The recent budget proposal from the White House included a shocker: The president wants to eliminate the 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative, the main federal funding stream for afterschool programs. More astonishing was the rationale the White House offered: The budget chief said there’s “no demonstrable evidence” that afterschool works.

He is flat wrong about that. Study after study has provided evidence that afterschool programs work. They help improve students’ grades and test scores, and they also improve attendance and behavior during the regular schoo...