National service can help lift Missouri out of a COVID-19 education disaster

The public health and economic crises caused by COVID-19, along with the conversations around racial equity that have been at the forefront in recent weeks, have changed our lives in unprecedented ways. Meanwhile, Kansas City’s response has represented the very best of what we know and love about this community: people coming together to support each other.

As we look toward the long and uncertain road ahead, we have a collective responsibility to ensure that all members of our community have an opportunity to emerge stronger from our current challenges. National service programs are a proven, cost-effective strategy that can help accelerate our efforts.

The crisis in education has only been exacerbated by the pandemic. Across the country, 55 million students have been kept out of school for months, and education experts are rightfully concerned about the long-term impact on young people of all ages.

Widespread school closures create academic losses, but there is a social cost as well. Students with unmet social and emotional needs may be more likely to be held back, which further increases their likelihood of dropping out. Add to that the fact that support for high school students applying to college or seeking post-secondary training has been dramatically reduced or eliminated, and growing numbers of students are left without a plan for their future.

Strategic expansion of the voluntary federal civic service program AmeriCorps is an efficient way to address these challenges. Here in Kansas City, one AmeriCorps program that aligns with the Chiefs and the Hunt Family Foundation’s strategic approach to support children and families in need is City Year, an educational nonprofit dedicated to helping students and schools succeed. For five school years, City Year has placed AmeriCorps members in local schools as near-peer resources for students who need extra support.

City Year has successfully partnered with schools and communities to serve as an essential resource for students as schools transitioned to distance learning. When students return to school this fall — either in person or virtually — they will need this help and more if we are to close achievement gaps that have been exacerbated by the pandemic and school closures. As board chair of City Year Kansas City, I’ve personally seen the impact these AmeriCorps volunteers can have on academic achievement.

Expanding the number of national service members who can partner with teachers and schools to catch students up would provide critical relationships and additional capacity for schools to address increased levels of need. As members of Congress looks for ways to support communities, they should consider expanding AmeriCorps, as has been proposed by a bipartisan group of U.S. senators through the CORPS Act, which was introduced on June 16.

AmeriCorps members are a resource that communities across Missouri and around the country could leverage if national service were expanded. This is a prime opportunity to tap the talent and energy of national service volunteers to help ensure our students receive the attention and the support they need so that our communities can reap the benefit of their full potential.

Mark Donovan is president of the Kansas City Chiefs and board chair of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit City Year Kansas City.

This story was originally published July 13, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "National service can help lift Missouri out of a COVID-19 education disaster."