Kielsmeier Testifies at Field Hearing on National Budget

NYLC Founder, President, and CEO Jim Kielsmeier testified to the relationship between service-learning and a lifetime habit of service at a field hearing on the national budget this week in St. Paul, Minn. Jim Scheibel, NYLC Board Chair, opened the national service panel with remarks on how VISTA leverages resources in addressing community needs.

“The founding vision of national service lays out a pathway to a lifetime of engaged citizenship, with each stream of service building on the other,” Kielsmeier said. “Service-learning is the on-ramp.”

Speakers addressed the President’s 2011 budget, within which Learn and Serve America’s proposed budget is $40.2 million, down from an inflation-adjusted peak of $65 million in 1995 — despite its cost effectiveness compared to other full-time service programs.

With only 3 percent of the Corporation for National and Community Service’s funding supporting service by those under 18, Kielsmeier called on Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., and other members of Congress to advocate for a $10 million increase in Learn and Serve for 2011. He also advocated incorporating support for youth-led projects in other federal agencies, such as the Department of Education, since service-learning is a proven strategy for increasing student achievement.

The budget includes the highest funding level ever for the Corporation for National and Community Service; but within the Corporation, funding levels vary greatly. AmeriCorps, the Volunteer Generation Fund, and the Social Innovation Fund, for example, would increase at least 20 percent from FY 2010 levels. Others — like SeniorCorps, VISTA, and Learn and Serve America — would be flat-funded, or decrease slightly.

“Young people are citizens today — not just the future of tomorrow,” Kielsmeier added.