News and Events : News 04-05

Press Release

President Bush Proposes to Eliminate Upward Bound Program

NORTHFIELD, Mass—President George W. Bush's 2006 budget, which was unveiled Monday, proposes to eliminate the Upward Bound Program. The funds would be redirected towards an extension of the No Child Left Behind program, according to a report in The Chronicle of Higher Education. Upward Bound, established during the Johnson Administration's "War on Poverty," is one of five federally funded TRIO programs aimed at helping low-income students or those who would be the first in their families to go to college.

Northfield Mount Hermon School has hosted the program on its campus since 1968. According to Head of School Tom Sturtevant, “NMH Upward Bound was one of the first programs to start up during the 1960’s and it is one of only two hosted by secondary schools across the country. The program exemplifies our founder Dwight L. Moody’s commitment to opportunity in education. The services ensure that some of the most disadvantaged students in our local communities will be prepared for and gain admission to college, regardless of their circumstances. This program is at the heart of our school’s mission. We hope there will be a way to continue providing these critical services to our local communities.”

NMH’s program has an annual budget of $332,437 from the Department of Education and additional grants from the Edwin S. Webster Foundation, the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, and the Xeric Foundation. The money provides funding for 66 students from Greenfield, Turners Falls, Springfield and Holyoke public high schools, and according to Program Director Gisele Litalien, “The loss of funding from the Department of Education would be devastating for our students and their families, and a significant loss of an opportunity for hundreds of thousands of disadvantaged American high school students.” Students who meet the eligibility criteria attend classes on the NMH campus each summer. They also receive academic and financial aid counseling, tutoring, and after-school classes during the school year that help them succeed in high school and prepare for college. The program recently accepted 30 ninth graders who have begun to receive services in their schools and who will join returning students for the Summer Academy beginning June 18th. Program cuts would take effect at the end of the next school year.

According to Litalien, Upward Bound has survived similar challenges on several occasions, including the early 1980s under the Reagan administration and after Republicans won control of Congress in 1994. “There was a huge outpouring of support for the program from both Democrats and Republicans during that time.” Litalien said. “I hope that Congress will again recognize the importance of continuing these programs. The single biggest indicator of whether someone is
going to go to college and be successful is whether their parents did. Getting low-income students to college is one of the most effective ways of overcoming poverty in our communities. Once someone has a college education it is likely that most of his or her children and grandchildren will go to college after that. The program has very far-reaching effects.”

Litalien said that less than one third of students whose family incomes fall in the bottom quarter will go to college. “With a widening gap between the rich and poor in this country, this is not the time to eliminate programs that move people out of poverty. Over the past five years, 95% of NMH Upward Bound graduates have gone on to college, most of them to four-year colleges. Over 70% of the students finish college and many go on to graduate programs. Each year students increase their SAT scores, cumulative grade point averages, pass MCAS, and show significant increase in test scores. “This is a program that works,” says Litalien. “We are making sure these students are not left behind. It’s frustrating to see the president try to dismantle a program that works in order to fund the No Child Left Behind initiative, when we are currently providing the services that help our communities meet those goals.”

Krysten Funari, an NMH Upward Bound graduate from Greenfield High School, is currently enrolled in a master of art program for English for teachers at Western New England College and plans to get her doctorate. She has worked for the program for the past two years as a tutor counselor and English teacher. She says, “There is no way I would have gotten to college without Upward Bound. There were so many factors working against me. This program kept me on track; I have come back to help low-income kids because I know how great the obstacles are for them.”

Brenda Pedraza, a Holyoke High School graduate who is now enrolled in a master’s of social work program at Temple University, also returned to work in the program that helped her so much. “I didn’t understand anything about the college application process because no one in my family had been to college. The program challenged me to get better grades, take harder courses, and guided me through the complicated application process. I plan to get a dual degree in law and social work. I could have never come this far without Upward Bound. I am sure that all the generations to come in my family will be college graduates because of my success.”

Keesha White, a graduate from Springfield, also came back to work as an academic advisor and teacher in the program. “The Upward Bound program gave me an incredible opportunity and opened up my world. Before Upward Bound, I had no support to succeed in school and go on to higher education. I was hungry to be in an academically challenging situation and Upward Bound provided that.” Keesha won a full scholarship to the boarding school at NMH and went on to get her bachelor’s degree from Columbia University. She is in a master’s of social work program at Washington University and plans to start her own foundation.

Talent Search, another program that does not include a summer school element but which starts working with students in middle school, is also expected to be cut under the proposal. The current budget for Upward Bound and Talent Search is about $460 million, according to the Chronicle. Upward Bound and Talent Search serve 450,000 high school students from low-income families. In addition, Veterans Upward Bound helps 5,000 veterans.


 

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