America's Promise Alliance

For Immediate Release

Monday, May 23, 2011

America’s Promise Alliance Urges Congress to Restore Full YouthBuild Appropriation in FY2012

Statement made by Marguerite W. Kondracke, president and CEO of America’s Promise Alliance

WASHINGTON, DC –“I was deeply disturbed to learn that Congress has robbed hundreds of youth in our poorest neighborhoods the opportunity to turn their lives around and achieve the American dream with the de-funding of 121 YouthBuild grants at the same time that tax exemptions for some of our most profitable oil companies were maintained.

The deficit is a national crisis and it is critical for the future of our country to get the deficit under control but the federal budget is a reflection of our national priorities. It requires us to make choices such as either providing big oil companies billions of dollars in tax subsidies or investing in cost-effective and proven programs like YouthBuild that provides critical support for low-income young people to work toward their GEDs or high school diplomas, learn job skills, serve their communities, and go onto college and careers.

It is simply wrong and short-sighted to strip investments in our nation’s young people at this critical moment. Although it might appear to save some limited dollars in the short run, it will cost our nation’s next generation critically needed job skills, an education, and a productive future that will end up costing our nation dearly in the long-term.

Difficult choices must certainly be made in an effort to reduce the deficit, but children and youth should always be our priority and focus. When one student drops out of high school every 26 seconds in this country, programs like YouthBuild are not a luxury, but a necessity. Each year, more than one million students drop out of high school in the United States. According to the Alliance for Excellent Education, these dropouts will ultimately cost the country more than $330 billion in lost wages and taxes over their lifetimes. YouthBuild takes these students, gets them back in school and provides training and real skills development for a meaningful career and for college preparation. In fact, over 100,000 YouthBuild students have built 20,000 units of affordable, increasingly green housing since 1994.

I know we must make cuts in spending, and some social programs are of questionable or unknown effectiveness but YouthBuild is not one of them. Our nation must understand that investing in programs like YouthBuild that lower our dropout rate and put our young people on the path to success, is the best long-term deficit reduction plan for our country.”

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America’s Promise Alliance is the nation’s largest partnership organization dedicated to improving the lives of children and youth by raising awareness, supporting communities, and engaging in nonpartisan advocacy. Through our Grad Nation campaign, we harness the collective power of our partner network to mobilize Americans to end the high school dropout crisis and prepare young people for college and the 21^st century workforce. Building on the legacy of our Founding Chairman General Colin Powell, the Alliance believes the success of our young people is grounded in the Five Promises – caring adults; safe places; a healthy start; an effective education; and opportunities to help others. For more information about America’s Promise Alliance, visit www.americaspromise.org.