This week, the national service program AmeriCorps announced that it has been forced to make drastic cuts in its grant programs, due to past-year overruns and a continuing impasse on how it accounts for the education awards earned by members. (Corps members receive a stipend and an award of up to $4,725 that can be used to pay for college or to pay back student loans, in exchange for service through a nonprofit organization.) After October 1, enrollments could plummet as low as 12,000, from the 50,000 originally projected by AmeriCorps officials. A number of education organizations would be hit hard, including literacy programs for low-income, rural, and tribal communities; after-school programs; and youth mentoring groups. Among them is Teach for America (TFA), which will place 3,200 college graduates in elementary and secondary classrooms this fall. Since TFA launched in 1990, all 9,000 participants have received AmeriCorps education awards, which many use to pay for further coursework to become certified. TFA official Kevin Huffman told the Gadfly that the program is bracing itself for the unprecedented situation of being unable to offer members an education award - and that TFA's board is considering costly alternatives, including covering the awards through private donations. "This is potentially pretty devastating," said Huffman. "These members made a commitment and they may well find themselves without the education benefit they expected when they signed up."
"AmeriCorps announces major cuts," by Brian Faler, Washington Post, June 17, 2003
"AmeriCorps will cut its staff and its spending," by Christopher Marquis, New York Times, June 16, 2003