After-school programs in state, BX facing the ax

Some students in the Bronx and the rest of the state may be without after-school programs in September.Federal funding for 207 programs statewide is scheduled to be cut off, 118 of which are in New York

News 12 Staff

Jun 19, 2007, 1:10 AM

Updated 6,384 days ago

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Some students in the Bronx and the rest of the state may be without after-school programs in September.Federal funding for 207 programs statewide is scheduled to be cut off, 118 of which are in New York City. The cuts could affect about 20,000 kids across the city.State officials are now asking Governor Spitzer (D-NY) to provide an extra $30 million to the state budget so there can be another year to find funding for the programs. The city had contributed $113.5 million for the past school year, the state gave more than $25 million and the federal government supplied more than $66 million. School officials say they were told about the funding issue in February, but that it was too late then to find additional funding.A spokesman for the state's Department of Education says there was never a firm commitment for funding to continue and officials were urged to try to find their own funds.