National service was a cornerstone of Barack Obama’s campaign. True to his word, as the first 100 days in office proceed, two bills in Congress seek to take advantage of the momentum the president has built for public service. But alongside promises of a bright new age of civic sacrifice lies the practical reality of what it means to serve, a much more sombering counterpart to the idealistic rationale that drives most people to participate.
Obama’s economic stimulus package includes $200 million for the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency dedicated by President Bill Clinton in 1993 to domestic service projects. The similarly themed Serve America Act, sponsored by Sens. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), calls for an additional 175,000 volunteers willing to dedicate a year of service to a variety of domestic projects.
The recent attention toward national service is not merely the result of a newly rediscovered sense of public duty in the nation’s psyche; it stands to offer a pragmatic solution to resuscitating a distressed global economy.
With rapid downsizing and 600,000 left unemployed in January alone, the job market is shrinking fast, leaving graduating students with little reason to race toward the four-year mark. Americans volunteered 8.1 billion hours of time in 2007, valued at approximately $158 billion. But engaging graduates in service activities with incentives directly related to school loans and future professions is a convenient way to develop our infrastructure at a fraction of the cost, according to the CNS.
For the career-confused student, it’s an attractive prospect. AmeriCorps, a division of the CNS, provides its participants with loan deferment, health benefits and the AmeriCorps Education Award, a $4,725 payment that can be used toward paying off loans or tuition in graduate school. Teach for America ‘mdash; a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing education in impoverished areas ‘mdash; takes incentive even further, offering district-paid salaries and teacher accreditation, all in addition to AmeriCorps benefits.
But a spot almost too good to be true in the current economy, these programs are in high demand. CNS notes that the number of U.S. volunteer-hopefuls has been climbing steadily since 2002; Teach for America is currently accepting less than 15 percent of applicants.
Funding increases are certainly needed to match the growing pool of college graduates and unemployed looking to spend their time doing something worthwhile for their communities, but how service programs use that money is also crucial. If Obama wants to realize his plan and birth new age of civic duty, national service operations will need to make significant internal changes.’
Most service programs have mandatory time commitments: Teach for America asks for two ye
ars, and for the full AmeriCorps Education Award, one must participate full time for a year. Instead, to attract a larger pool of Americans,’ short-term time commitments with incentives should be expanded, with greater effort directed toward high-school students and retired baby boomers. Service duration options ranging from a few weeks to a few months would allow students to turn a boring summer or winter break into a productive experience without interrupting their studies during the school year, and allowing experienced retirees to direct younger members would give programs a more capable guiding light while providing activities for life after retirement.
Incentives must also radically change to cater to the differing needs of an expanding volunteer pool: Currently, the annual $5,000 AmeriCorps Education Award is not nearly enough to make’ a sizeable impact on leftover university loans. Forgiveness programs need to be expanded to account for more types of loans, and to accommodate those students who couldn’t make payments on their loans and deferred them (something AmeriCorps currently prohibits).
‘ Additionally scholarships for high-school students in exchange for volunteer work would help offset the cost of a college education. And for those outside the sphere of education, other incentives ‘mdash; such as tax benefits ‘mdash; would prove useful in attracting volunteers.
Obama’s Serve America Act certainly takes steps to widen the service corps base, and though it detrimentally cites a year as the minimum amount of time one can devote to public service, its goal of expanding volunteer incentive to a wide range of ages is laudable.
The president has eagerly called upon the entire nation to sacrifice for its improvement, evoking the ideals of public servants Franklin’ D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy. But flexibility is what will allow service programs to thrive: If the new administration seeks to attract a broader pool of applicants, they must be ready to grant benefits in line with the demands of today’s volunteer.
Readers can contact Omair Qazi at [email protected].