New California After School Division Chief

By Sam Piha

Michael Funk

On December 15, 2011, Tom Torlakson, State Superintendent of Schools, announced that Michael Funk will head the new After School Division within the California Department of Education (which until the recent CDE realignment had been a unit of another division).

Michael Funk served as the founder and Executive Director for the Sunset Neighborhood Beacon Center since 1996 and has served on the California Advisory Committee on Before and After School since its inception. He has also been the co-director for the Learning in Afterschool Project (LIA).

Michael has been a strong advocate for quality afterschool programs that reflect the learning principles of the LIA Project – learning that is active, collaborative, meaningful to the participants, promotes mastery, and expands horizons. We congratulate Michael on this appointment and look forward to his leadership of the California Afterschool movement.