A Wednesday morning text from his wife told Joshua Michael where his daughters would be at 3 p.m.: off to their after-school program, and then to gymnastics.

Michael, president of the state’s education board, expects his girls will come home exhausted but inspired. He knows they’ll be safe and entertained after school.

He’s in the minority.

“Too many Maryland parents and parents across this country, they don’t get that same text,” said Michael, who is also executive director of the Sherman Family Foundation, which financially supports The Banner. “They’re scrambling to figure out what they’re doing at 3 p.m.”

In Maryland, 3 in 4 children whose parents want to put them in after-school programs can’t get into one. That’s over 420,000 kids, according to the fifth America After 3PM report by the Afterschool Alliance.

Described by Executive Director Jodi Grant as “the most comprehensive study of after-school program demand” in the nation, this is the Alliance’s first large-scale report since the pandemic.

The Alliance found similar supply-and-demand problems across the country: Parents of nearly 30 million children want their kids in after-school programs. But only 7 million, or roughly 23%, are actually enrolled.

“Demand for after-school and summer programs has soared while supply has remained relatively the same or even decreased slightly,” said Ellie Mitchell, director of the Maryland Out of School Time Network.

In Maryland, just shy of 146,000 kids are enrolled in after-school programs. According to the report, the majority of those parents say they can work more and stress less because their kids have after-school activities. And 91% of those parents rate their children’s programs as “excellent” or “very good.”

But barriers like costs, capacity and transportation are shutting hundreds of thousands of other families out.

Zainab Abbas says that doesn’t surprise her. She’s CEO of SciTech2U, an after-school and summer program based in Montgomery County aimed at school-age kids whose families don’t have the money or resources to support their interest in science, technology, engineering, art and math.

“We have people on waiting lists because we don’t have the capacity to support them due to funding and space,” Abbas said. “Just this past summer, we had to turn several families away because we just didn’t have the funding.”

At Abbas’ program, kids aren’t babysat. They get to fly planes on flight simulators alongside actual pilots. They build their own robots and take them home. They’re taught by instructors of color with experience in the field.

Programs like hers also allow parents to finish the work day after school ends.

According to the report, Maryland parents spend an average of $145.80 a week for five hours of care.

Mitchell said the state needs to invest more in expanding after-school care. In July, after-school and summer programs panicked when the federal government froze their promised funds.

“We need funding that is sustainable and that is predictable,” Mitchell said.

Nine in 10 Maryland parents support publicly funding after-school programs, according to the report.

At a D.C. panel for the release of America After 3PM, Michael said Maryland supports after-school programming through community schools and small grants. He also noted that state child care scholarship funds can cover some after-school care, but that money is frozen for new families.

Michael said that programs outside of school go hand in hand with classroom instruction in getting kids ready for college and life.

“This is why families with means are investing nine times more than other parents in this, because they have the economic freedom to do so,” Michael said. “This is a matter of us providing access to all families in America.”

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.