This rollback comes on the heels of the 2009 bipartisan passage of the Serve America Act, which called for growing the number of AmeriCorps members each year until it reached 250,000 members strong. If federal funding for the Serve America Act was on track today, there would be 140,000 AmeriCorps members this fall. Instead there will be just 82,000.



Saying "no" to so many young Americans who want to serve is short-sighted.



AmeriCorps taps the energy and idealism of America's youth -- and at the same time it's a solution to pressing needs in education, energy efficiency, disaster relief, and public health. It is a low-cost, high-yield federal investment in our communities and in the civic character and job readiness of America's young people.



While meeting pressing needs right now, AmeriCorps trains young people to become leaders and accelerates their careers by making them stronger candidates for future employment.



Every City Year corps member is an AmeriCorps member. Every dollar AmeriCorps invests in our corps is matched three to one by local sources.



The demand for the service provided by AmeriCorps members is also surging. For example, school district leaders around the country are calling for more City Year AmeriCorps members to serve in more high-need schools to address the nation's dropout crisis and to serve as an integral component of their innovative school improvement and turnaround initiatives.



Here's what New York City's Chancellor of Education, Dennis Walcott, said about the work of City Year AmeriCorps members in New York's public schools: