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The Fenty spending plan drops all funding for the guard's Youth Challenge Program and the Youth Leaders Camp, cuts supply and materials funding in half, reduces funds for tuition assistance and slashes equipment and training expenses. Fenty's proposal leaves the guard with only $66,000 for non-personnel related expenses, Major Gen. Errol Schwartz told a D.C. Council committee Tuesday.
D.C.'s National Guard is the only branch of forces in the United States that does not report to the chief executive of its jurisdiction. The District funds about 40 to 45 percent of the Guard's budget, but to Fenty's dismay, the D.C. unit can only be called up by the president. "The District government is seeking to renegotiate its funding relationship for the National Guard with the federal government," budget documents state. A Fenty spokeswoman did not comment Wednesday by press time.
The mayor's decision to kill the youth programs has frustrated guard leadership.
"I'm asking for some reconsideration of that action," Schwartz told the council's public safety panel, chaired by Councilman Phil Mendelson.
The Youth Leaders Camp, established in 1968, is a free two-week leadership and recreational summer program for promising D.C.-area youth ages 12-15. The Youth Challenge program provides 16- to 19-year-old high school dropouts with an opportunity to earn a GED through an intensive 22-week educational and boot camplike training program.
More than 100 teens have participated in the challenge since its debut - 73 percent have graduated and roughly 25 percent have gone on to higher ... Read the rest...
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