Federal Updates

Call for Community Service Grows Louder

Many things have changed since September 11, 2001. Our sense of invincibility, our capacity for compassion, and our spirit of patriotism have all been affected. These changes were to be expected, as they are natural by-products of the dramatic events we witnessed. Another change was also inevitable—a growing spirit of community. And the federal administration aims to harness that spirit in the form of several projects intended at increasing the nation's community service.

In President Bush's recent State of the Union address, he announced several objectives "to sustain and extend the best that has emerged in America." These objectives, elaborated in literature pertaining to the address posted on www.whitehouse.gov/stateoftheunion, include a dramatic increase in the community service requirement for schools participating in the Federal Work-Study (FWS) Program, a sizeable increase in AmeriCorps participation, and the formation of the new USA Freedom Corps.

Increase in FWS Community Service Percentage
Currently, a school participating in the FWS Program is required to use 7 percent of its funds to compensate students employed in community service positions. The national average is 14 percent. There have been recent calls for that percentage to increase to 25 (separate bills introduced in the Senate and the House)—the president's plan raises the volume to 50.

Of the 50 percent that every school would be required to devote to community service, the plan further specifies that 5 percent of FWS students would be expected to work in homeland security fields of public safety, public health, and emergency preparedness. According to the figures provided by the Bush administration, this would mean that "an additional 250,000 to 300,000 students would serve an average of 10 hours a week in non-profit organizations across the country."

Increase in AmeriCorps Participation
The AmeriCorps program provides a monetary award that a student may use toward his or her current cost of attendance or previous educational loan debt, in exchange for domestic community service. The continued survival of the program, which is run by the Corporation for National and Community Service, has been uncertain in years past, but Bush's proposal would expand AmeriCorps' participation from 50,000 to 75,000 students—a 50 percent increase.

As with the FWS Program, AmeriCorps would contain a focus on service positions in emergency preparedness and public health and safety. The proposal would also expand how AmeriCorps funds can be used to include payment toward health care costs, job training, and a down payment on a home. Furthermore, Bush's proposal would exclude the award from being counted as taxable income.

Creation of the USA Freedom Corps
The USA Freedom Corps is a new comprehensive, integrated citizen service initiative. This initiative is the umbrella under which several other programs will exist, including the following:

• A newly established Citizen Corps
• The current AmeriCorps and Senior Corps
• The current Peace Corps

The Citizen Corps would, according to the USA Freedom Corps website (www.usafreedomcorps.gov), "engage Americans in specific homeland security efforts in communities throughout the country." The Citizen Corps will consist of several subprograms, including the Volunteers in Police Service Program, the Medical Reserve Corps, and Operation TIPS (Terrorist Information and Prevention System).

The Senior Corps, in addition to expanding its volunteer participation by 100,000, would allow older citizens to earn college scholarships that they could transfer to someone else, such as a grandchild or a student they tutor.

The revitalized Peace Corps would double its numbers (currently, it has 7,000 volunteers) and expand to more countries, with a focus on supporting reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.

Implementation and Funding
President Bush's proposals require congressional legislative action and would be implemented over varying periods of time, some still to be determined. Bush's proposed budget for fiscal year (FY) 2003, released February 4, 2002, provides additional funding for several of his community service initiatives, and also requires congressional approval. Although the FWS Program would receive no increase (its funding would stay at the current FY 2002 level of $1.011 billion), the plan calls for a 56.4 percent increase for AmeriCorps (from $408 to $638 million) and a USA Freedom Corps budget of $560 million for all of its various components.

No matter which initiatives see the light of day or which see the chopping block, however, the call for community service is growing louder in the current federal administration. As President Bush declared in the State of the Union address, "We want to be a nation that serves goals larger than self…Through the gathering momentum of millions of acts of service and decency and kindness, I know we can overcome evil with greater good."

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Closed School Corner

Newly Reported Closures
OPE ID#	School Name/ School Address	Unofficial Closure Date	ED's Official Closure Date
02134400	Connecticut Institute of Art 581 W. Putnam Ave. Greenwich, CT 06830-6073	N/A	12/12/2001
02143800	Huntington Institute 193 Broadway Norwich, CT 06360-4407	N/A	11/09/2001
03445400	Expert Solutions Technical College 1200 S. Sherman, #100 Richardson, TX 75081-6540	N/A	12/30/2001

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