The high cost of losing AmeriCorps in Central Valley public schools

Yahoo

07-06-2025

A fourth-grade student nearly lost her life. She wasn't acting out or failing tests, she was just acting strangely.
Thanks to an AmeriCorps member embedded in her Central Valley classroom, someone had the time and ability to notice.
That check-in revealed that the student had suicidal thoughts. The AmeriCorps member alerted school staff, and a psychologist got involved. A counselor stepped in, and her family was notified.
A life was redirected, and a tragedy was prevented.
That was just one day in the Porterville Unified School District's AmeriCorps program.
'Our teachers are invested, but they don't always have the time,' said Tara Warren, who leads and launched the program five years ago. 'When you put two people in the classroom — when AmeriCorps is there — there's double the care. Double the chance to catch something before it's too late.'
In Porterville, AmeriCorps members serve in every 3rd-, 4th- and 5th-grade classroom. With 30 students per class, they run small groups, support struggling readers, lead mental health check-ins and help students feel seen and supported.
They're not just helping — they're building capacity where schools are stretched far too thin.
Teachers say they would give up a raise to keep their AmeriCorps member. And many former Porterville Unified School District AmeriCorps members are now becoming full-time teachers and intervention specialists in the district — trained locally, trusted by students and families and already part of the school community.
This is a win-win: students get personalized support, and districts grow their own teaching workforce. It's one of the most cost-effective, community-rooted solutions we have to address the educator shortage. (On average, every $1 in federal AmeriCorps investment returns $17 locally.)
But now, this is all at risk.
In May, the Department of Government Efficiency defunded AmeriCorps by more than $400 million, eliminating 32,000 service positions nationwide, including at Porterville Unified.
This isn't just a budget cut, it's a loss of a critical support system that many of our schools rely on every day.
For districts like Porterville, AmeriCorps has been the 'Plan B' when budgets fall short and student needs rise. There is no 'Plan C.'
If AmeriCorps disappears, so does academic support for students at risk of falling behind; social emotional learning small groups led by trained, trusted mentors; reading and math intervention in overfull classrooms; a proven, low-cost way to support and retain teachers; and a local teacher pipeline that actually works.
In real terms, cutting AmeriCorps means that more kids slipping through the cracks. There will be fewer early warnings for mental health crises, more teacher burnout and turnover and less equity in who gets the help they need.
And it means we're dismantling one of the few programs that actually works — because it's built for local realities.
Programs like Porterville's didn't appear overnight. They were developed through years of local partnerships, training and shared accountability. Many AmeriCorps members are local graduates, returning to serve the very schools they came from.
When we cut AmeriCorps, we're not just ending a service program, we're breaking a teacher training and staffing pipeline. We're discarding a proven, low-cost tool to improve education outcomes and close opportunity gaps.
We know what helps schools succeed, and AmeriCorps is part of that solution.
If we're serious about youth mental health, teacher retention or workforce development, we need to protect the programs that are already doing the work — quietly, effectively and every single day.
Gary Kosman is the founder of America Learns, a national organization that supports schools and nonprofits in strengthening tutoring, mentoring and service programs.