GSW Education Partners

The FY2027 House bill cuts the Education Department budget by 10%, including a $1.89 billion Title I reduction. Afterschool (21st CCLC) was maintained.

The Senate has not moved. The final number is months away.

Every district and OST program should be running two budget scenarios right now: one at current funding, one at a 10% Title I reduction. Not because the cut is certain. Because planning for only one scenario when the process is this uncertain is a bet your students and staff cannot afford you to lose.

What does your two scenario budget model look like?

Half of August is gone. The Back to School Sale closes on the 31st.

25% off every GSW consulting plan for new partners starting this month. Free 60-minute consultation to start.

If your organization still has unresolved staffing questions, a compliance calendar that needs mapping, or operations challenges that have been on the to-do list since spring, now is the window.

Not because October is too late. Because October costs more time, pressure, and options than August.

Details in comments

There are 22.6 million children without access to afterschool programs.

Parents of nearly 30 million children want those programs. The capacity does not exist to serve them.

The programs that exist right now, the ones running this fall, are not just providing childcare. They are the reason some students experience enrichment, academic support, and structure that the school day cannot always provide.

The work of running those programs well is not abstract. It is scheduling, staffing, curriculum, data documentation, and partnership management. It is operations work. And it matters.

Before school starts: 8 things program directors should have confirmed.

1. Every position filled, or a clear hire date
2. Compliance calendar mapped through December
3. Curriculum scope confirmed at every site
4. Two budget scenarios modeled (current funding AND 10% Title I reduction)
5. AI acceptable use policy staff have actually seen
6. Summer outcome documentation complete for renewal applications
7. MOUs and partnership agreements current
8. First-30-days operations plan written for every site

How many of these does your organization still need to close?

GSW's Back to School Sale is live through August 31: Link in comments

55,000 teaching positions are unfilled as the school year begins.

The number has not moved in two years. It will not move with more recruiting. It moves when districts start examining the structural reasons their teachers are leaving and address those reasons directly.

Working conditions. Administrative load. Feedback culture. Professional autonomy.

These are operations problems. They have operations solutions.

What is your district doing to close the gap this year?

The Back to School Sale is officially live.

25% off every GSW Education Partners consulting plan for new partners starting in August. All four tiers. All new partners. First three months at the discounted rate.

We built this for K-12 school districts, education nonprofits, and Parks and Recreation departments that know what they need to address before the school year starts, and want to do it in the window where it is still manageable.

Every new partnership starts with a free 60-minute consultation. No commitment required.

Link in comments. Offer ends August 31, 2026.

A question for the education community:

If your district or program had to choose between putting $50,000 toward new teacher recruitment or $50,000 toward retention programs for your current staff, which would have more impact this year?

We have a strong view on this. But we want to hear from the people doing the work first.

Reminder - the GSW Summer Giveaway closes before August 4.

One Signature Transformation engagement. $5,799 in value. Winner announced August 4.

If you are a K-12 program director, OST coordinator, or district leader: the entry link is in the first comment. Less than 60 seconds.

If you know someone who should enter: share this post with them directly.

A recreation department we partner with just crossed 500 youth served this summer.

They started as a program struggling to reach 120.

The difference was not budget. It was structure: a clear 6-week programming calendar, consistent family communication, and a staff team that knew exactly what was expected each day.

500 kids spending part of their summer in a safe, structured program that is actively good for them.

This is why the work matters.

Something we love about this time of year: the people running summer programs.

The site director who has been there since 7 AM to make sure everything is set before students arrive. The teacher leading the reading block for the third straight summer because she knows what happens to her students' progress when they do not have a program.

Every K-12 and OST program running this summer: the work you are doing right now has a direct, measurable impact on how the school year starts for those kids.

Thank you.