Dear Chair Murray and Ranking Member Blunt:

We respectfully request that you include a $250 million annual appropriation for a Service Learning Fund in the FY23 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Appropriations bill for the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). The CNCS will administer this Fund through the Learn and Serve America program as authorized by Subtitle B of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act.

We also request that accompanying report language include the following:

“Within the total for Service Learning, the Committee provides funds for Summer of Service programs, Semester of Service programs, and service-learning programs in public schools and institutions of higher education. The Committee further recommends that fifty percent of the funds are directed to economically disadvantaged communities and five percent are set aside for payments to Indian tribes, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, to be allotted in accordance with their respective needs. All funds are competitive. Eligible applicants include SEAs, LEAs, IHEs, non-profit organizations, and state service commissions to carry out service-learning programs for K-12 and postsecondary students. Grantees that receive funding for low-income communities are not required to match federal funds.”

Prior to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we already saw stressed educational systems, divided communities, and too many young disengaged people.  The pandemic further amplified existing inequities, isolated individuals, and put students’ educational outcomes at risk. This lack of engagement has led to students struggling academically, socially, and emotionally. The impacts for low-income and minority students are even worse. The pandemic has primed us for deep-seated change in public education. We must ensure that we embrace the connections between education, economic opportunity, and national service.

The final report of the bipartisan, Congressionally-appointed National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service was published in March 2020.  After two years of study, the Commission recommended a dramatic increase in service-learning opportunities for K-12 and higher education students, giving young people the problem-solving and academic achievement skills they will need to be successful in school, work, and life.  In the Commission’s vision, every American will be exposed to service opportunities throughout their lifetime, beginning with young people experiencing robust civic education and service-learning during elementary, middle, and high school.

The Commission recommended that Congress create a Service-Learning Fund and provide $250 million in annual appropriations to CNCS to award competitive grants to state educational agencies, local educational agencies, institutes of higher education, State Service Commissions, and nonprofits to develop and implement service-learning programs for K–12 and postsecondary students across the country, including:

• $100 million for Summer of Service programs for students who will be enrolled in grades 6–12 at the end of the summer;

• $100 million for Semester of Service programs for students in grades 9–12; and,

• $50 million for service-learning programs in public schools and institutions of higher education.

Last year, CNCS asked that they be given time to prepare to restart Learn and Serve America and recover the lost institutional knowledge since it was last funded . As a result, the Fiscal Year 2022 Appropriations bill required CNCS to submit a report to Congress to outline the process to restart Learn and Serve America so they are ready to receive these funds in Fiscal Year 2023.

We hope you will support this appropriation to reestablish Federal support of service-learning programs and provide students across the Nation with opportunities to engage in community service to address genuine needs while building their academic and civic knowledge and skills.

Sincerely,