Summer Shouldn’t Be a Scramble for South Carolina Families
March 31, 2026
This co-authored op-ed was originally published in The Post and Courier on March 28, 2026. It highlights the growing challenges South Carolina families face in securing affordable, accessible summer and afterschool opportunities — and the urgent need for stronger public investment in programs that support children, working families, and the state’s workforce. Read the original article here.
Summer Shouldn’t Be a Scramble for South Carolina Families
By Zelda Waymer, president and chief executive officer of the S.C. Afterschool Alliance and Amy Keely, director of S.C. Afterschool Leaders Empowered at the Riley Institute.
Across South Carolina, parents are racing to secure summer program spots for their children. Waiting even a day too long can mean missing out on care and enrichment opportunities entirely. And when families do manage to secure a spot, the bill can be staggering—often thousands of dollars just to keep children meaningfully engaged and safe during the long summer months. For many families, the high cost and low supply, coupled with transportation and other logistical challenges, keeps summer programs wholly out of reach.
South Carolina has an opportunity—and a responsibility—to strengthen investment in summer and afterschool learning, particularly as federal funding for these programs faces growing uncertainty. Expanding access is not just about supporting working families; it’s about strengthening our workforce and ensuring that young people have opportunities to thrive year-round.
Children spend nearly 80% of their waking hours outside the school day. That reality makes afterschool, summer, and expanded learning programs one of the most powerful—and often overlooked—tools available to strengthen educational outcomes, improve social skills and civic engagement, and reduce risky behaviors among young people. Longitudinal studies and randomized control trials show that consistent participation in these programs helps students become higher earners, stronger learners, and more prepared leaders later in life.
These outcomes reinforce a truth many educators recognize: what we often call an achievement gap is fundamentally an opportunity gap. Students who perform poorly in schools often lack access to many resources, like summer camps and the academic and social supports that wealthier families can afford. If made widely available, afterschool and summer programs can create the time and place for all students to benefit from these opportunities.
Beyond offering traditional academic support, afterschool and summer programs offer hands-on ways to explore STEM, integrate learning with high-interest topics like the arts and digital creation, build youth confidence by providing leadership roles, and create opportunities for children to explore hobbies and careers that enrich their lives and inform the future workforce.
These are exactly the kinds of “real life” experiences that help students develop the collaboration, problem-solving, and communication skills embedded in the profile of a South Carolina Graduate—and they are the skills that teachers and employers across South Carolina are saying high school graduates consistently lack, according to studies commissioned by the SC Council on Competitiveness.
Public support for these investments is strong. Nearly nine in 10 South Carolina parents (88%) believe all young people deserve access to quality afterschool and summer programs, and 89% support public funding for these opportunities, regardless of political affiliation. When families cannot find programs, however, parents may reduce work hours, miss work, or leave the workforce entirely. In fact, in 2023 27% of South Carolina’s working families reported that childcare issues affected their employment.
In spite of this overwhelming public interest and support, federal funding for afterschool and summer programs is increasingly uncertain. Programs like 21st Century Community Learning Centers— which previously provided $19.3 million to South Carolina—face ongoing pressure. Any reduction would significantly impact access for thousands of children across our state.
In this moment, South Carolina’s policymakers have an opportunity to build a stronger, more coordinated ecosystem of out-of-school-time programs where every child can benefit from high-quality learning and enrichment beyond the classroom, regardless of income, geography, or school district.
State leaders can take meaningful steps now to strengthen our wider education ecosystem by:
- Establishing stable public investment in afterschool and summer learning, allowing thousands more children to access high-quality afterschool and summer programs. State funding ensures that communities are not forced to rely on unpredictable or short-term funding.
- Investing in program quality by focusing on leadership development and professionalization of the afterschool and summer field. Research shows that high quality programming drives positive outcomes for young people attending afterschool and summer programs.
- Strengthening public-private partnerships that support students’ college and career exploration, connect them with hands-on experiences during afterschool and summer hours, and prepare them for South Carolina’s evolving workforce.
These priorities are not new—but the urgency is.
Families across South Carolina shouldn’t have to scramble each summer to find safe, enriching opportunities for their children. Afterschool and summer programs are not a luxury. They are essential infrastructure—for working families, for student success, and for the future of our state.
Support Afterschool and Summer Learning in South Carolina
The South Carolina Afterschool Alliance works to expand access to quality afterschool and summer learning opportunities for young people across the state.