A loss of federal funding spells disaster for the program which has given out free books to students for years.
The San Antonio Independent School District program to distribute free books to low-income students is likely to close this year due to state and federal budget cuts. Over 18500 students have received 61840 new books this year via SAISD mySA.com reports.
The program was funded jointly by the federal Reading Is Fundamental project and the state educational budget. This year since SAISD was unable to come up with the funds to cover its share federal funds covered the whole. Fifth-grader Mary Jane Carrillo is one of the appreciative beneficiaries who has been receiving free books for over seven years. She said:
Getting the books has really helped with school and wanting to read for fun. We get to pick the book we want from a table of different ones. I remember getting my first book about the ABCs and it being the first one I ever owned."
The book distribution receives 75 of its funding from the RIF and the rest from the state. As part of the stopgap spending bill passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama RIFs budget has been cut by $24.8 million which means it has lost all of its federal funding and 85 of its total budget. Carol Rasco President of Reading is Fundamental said the programs are likely to be cut since they depend on using federal funds to leverage local and state funds."
A loss of federal funding spells disaster for the program which has given out free books to students for years.
The San Antonio Independent School District program to distribute free books to low-income students is likely to close this year due to state and federal budget cuts. Over 18500 students have received 61840 new books this year via SAISD mySA.com reports.
The program was funded jointly by the federal Reading Is Fundamental project and the state educational budget. This year since SAISD was unable to come up with the funds to cover its share federal funds covered the whole. Fifth-grader Mary Jane Carrillo is one of the appreciative beneficiaries who has been receiving free books for over seven years. She said:
Getting the books has really helped with school and wanting to read for fun. We get to pick the book we want from a table of different ones. I remember getting my first book about the ABCs and it being the first one I ever owned."
The book distribution receives 75 of its funding from the RIF and the rest from the state. As part of the stopgap spending bill passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama RIFs budget has been cut by $24.8 million which means it has lost all of its federal funding and 85 of its total budget. Carol Rasco President of Reading is Fundamental said the programs are likely to be cut since they depend on using federal funds to leverage local and state funds."
