Trump proposal putting program at risk

School has been out for weeks at Marie L. Greenwood Academy in Montbello, but on a recent weekday morning, three students sit around a table littered with neon-hued notecards and richly illustrated books. They listen attentively as longtime Denver Public Schools teacher Mary Ann Bash leads a lesson on “Ubiquitous,” a picture book about ancient organisms.

“What’s the oldest life form?” Bash asks.

The table is silent for a moment. Then one student, a soon-to-be fifth-grader named Marissa, lights up. “Bacteria!” she shouts. And she’s right.

“She learned that from a book in third grade,” Bash said. “They don’t forget anything they have learned here.”

This level of comprehension is exactly the objective of Each One Teach One, an after-school and summer program Bash created a decade ago to narrow the literacy gap for low-income students and students learning English throughout Denver.

Now, all that is at risk as the federal program that is the main funding source for Each One Teach One and programs like it nationwide will be cut if the Trump administration’s proposed 2018 budget passes in its current form.

Already, Each One Teach One is coping with budget problems. Its initial fiveyear federal grant expired at the end of April, and the U.S. Department of Education denied the program’s application for a waiver that would have extended funding for another year. As a result, Bash said she had to cap summer enrollment — and she will not be able to run after-school programming for the 201718 school year.

Bash said the federal grant funded 51 percent of Each One Teach One in previous summers.