March 17, 2008

Obey in WEBSTER
for update on after school program

WEBSTER, WI - Seventh District Congressman Dave Obey (D-WI) was in Webster today for an update on the School District's After School program.  Obey secured $430,554 in federal funds last year for the CESA 11 After-School Consortium of which Webster School District is a member.

"Research shows that when students have a place to go after school where they can study and be supervised by an adult, not only are they less likely to get into trouble, they also get a better education. That's why we pushed for more funding for after-school centers in the budget and why I asked for the funds to help keep programs like this going in Wisconsin," Obey said.  "I'm glad to be here today to see first hand how things are going here in Webster."

"For what we spend on the war in Iraq we could completely fund a program like this every minute," Obey added.  "That just goes to show you how much we could be doing here at home if we weren't stuck in this misbegotten war."

The Webster after-school program is intended to provide a safe, healthy, enriching, supervised after-school environment for children in targeted schools. Since parental involvement is one of the keys to a student's academic success, the program is also designed to strengthen the community - family - school partnership.

"There is nothing more important for the future of our children than a good education," Obey noted. "Offering extra help with homework, advanced tutoring and an adult-supervised safe-haven free of trouble, after-school programs like this one help provide students a solid foundation that will help them for the rest of their lives."

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