Written By: Elizabeth Anderson
North Carolina public schools will be the best in the nation by 2030, according to a bold and exciting new strategic plan from the North Carolina Department of Public Education and the State Board of Education.
Given students spend more than 80 percent of their waking hours learning and growing out of school, afterschool and summer learning programs are central to the vision laid out across eight Pillars of Excellence in the new plan. But right now, four in five North Carolina families who want to enroll their child in an afterschool program cannot access one, according to the 2025 America After 3 PM report released last week by the Afterschool Alliance.
Afterschool participation in North Carolina has held steady since 2020, with programs currently serving just over 188,000 children. But for every child we are successfully serving in North Carolina, there are four more who are missing out on a safe place to learn outside of school. In total, that’s more than 664,000 North Carolina children and their families.
Parents say the biggest barriers are cost, lack of safe transportation, and availability of programs in their area.
As Director of North Carolina’s statewide afterschool network (and as a former afterschool provider), I’ve seen firsthand how afterschool programs across North Carolina:
- transform students’ relationships with math, reading, and science;
- provide students with opportunities to explore career opportunities in different ways; and
- serve as safe havens where kids know that they will be listened to and supported.
Parents see the benefits of afterschool programs, too. According to the America After 3 p.m. report, North Carolina parents say that afterschool programs:
- Keep their kids safe and off screens. More than 8 in 10 NC parents say they appreciate that afterschool programs keep their kids safe and off screens.
- Keep parents in the workforce and fuel our state economy. 92 percent of NC parents say having their child in an afterschool program helps them keep their job or work more hours.
- Build students’ essential skills. The vast majority of parents see that afterschool programs build essential skills like responsible decision making, teamwork, critical thinking, and leadership skills.
Yet North Carolina is one of only 23 states that does not have dedicated state funding for afterschool, summer learning and out-of-school-time programs.
Parents across the political spectrum overwhelmingly support public funding for afterschool. Five in six NC parents – including 90 percent of Democrats and 83 percent of Republicans – support public funding for afterschool opportunities, according to the report.
NC can’t have the best schools in the nation without also having the best afterschool, summer learning and out-of-school-time (OST) programs. It’s time for providers, families, schools, and communities to call on state leaders for dedicated investment in afterschool programs. Our children, and our future, can’t afford to wait any longer.
