Free Republic

Fulton County schools want to pay students to stay in school a little longer. Forty students from Creekside High and Bear Creek Middle schools in Fairburn will be the first to try the "Learn & Earn" program, where students will get paid to attend after-school tutoring programs. Students will make approximately $8 an hour, and be eligible for bonuses if their grades improve, said Kirk Wilks, district spokesman. The initial students are in the eighth and 11th grades. There will be a community kick-off Thursday at 3 p.m. in the Creekside High media center, 7405 Herndon Rd., Fairburn. With the...

Telephone giant AT&T, which spent millions last year to influence legislation giving the company access to California's cable television market, gave about $500,000 Tuesday to a private after-school program founded by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger, who signed the 2006 cable law, attended a ceremony in San Antonio, Texas, where AT&T's philanthropic arm announced the donation to the governor's nonprofit After-School All-Stars program. Schwarzenegger founded the national program in 1992 as a way to provide tutoring services and sports to at-risk middle school students. It has affiliates in 14 cities. For AT&T, Tuesday's donation followed a 2006 legislative session in which...

SACRAMENTO – An initiative sponsored by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2002 to help launch his political career finally took effect this year, providing enough new money to double the number of after-school programs in the state. Despite that impressive debut, Proposition 49 was able to fund only half the schools that want after-school programs, which advocates say help children stay out of trouble while providing homework aid and cultural and recreational activities. An official with the Afterschool Alliance, a nonprofit group in Washington, D.C., said the $428 million in additional annual funding provided by Proposition 49 strengthened California's position as...

SACRAMENTO - For the first time since then-private citizen Arnold Schwarzenegger persuaded voters to pass Proposition 49 in 2002, the state will start spending more than $500 million on after-school programs next year. Under Schwarzenegger's proposed 2006-07 budget, the state will spend an additional $428 million on after-school programs under Proposition 49, bringing the total funding for those programs to $550 million. That is new spending required for the first time under Proposition 49 as triggered by an increase in state revenue, although it is not supported by new taxes or other revenue sources. But some critics say the measure...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - An unexpected boost in state revenue has given Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger an election-year bonus: funding for the after-school initiative he championed during his initial foray into California politics. Proposition 49 will be funded for the first time since voters approved it in 2002. Schwarzenegger is expected to include the funding in the budget he presents to the Legislature next week. "It's a happy coincidence of his sponsorship of a popular measure and now a favorable budget situation," said Jack Pitney, government professor of government at Claremont McKenna College. "It's one bit of good luck after a line...

SACRAMENTO – A little more than a week after voters rejected Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's four ballot measures, Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill repeated her call to repeal the after-school funding measure that helped launch the governor's political career, Proposition 49. Hill recommended the repeal yesterday during her annual budget forecast, which produced a rosy assessment about overall state finances, including a projected $4 billion increase in the state's current year budget reserve. The projected growth in revenues, according to the Legislative Analyst's Office and the state Department of Finance, will trigger the operation of Proposition 49 in fiscal 2006-07, which begins...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill suggested new ways Thursday to solve the state's budget problems, including suspending the after-school initiative championed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger before the actor turned politician. Though the program hasn't begun, Hill said it could soon add $424 million to the state's bills while California remains in a budget crisis. Schwarzenegger, who headed the Inner-City Foundation to provide after-school programs for children, successfully qualified and passed Proposition 49 on the 2002 ballot. Days after Hill suggested revenues are up $2.2 billion due to an improving economy, she labeled the governor's measure - which gives...

New Report from Law Enforcement: California High School Students Shut Out of After-School Programs During Prime Crime Hours 1/23/04 9:31:00 AM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor Contact: Rob Kaplan of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 510-836-2050, ext. 305 News Advisory: -- California Law Enforcement Leaders Speak Out on Resulting Increase in Crime, Violence and Drugs A statewide organization of more than 260 sheriffs, police chiefs, district attorneys and victims of violence is set to release a new report on how the severe shortage of after-school funding for high schools is detrimental to California's public safety. Crime data indicate...