HR0966 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0966 LRB098 20750 GRL 57783 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The initiative that was to become Grow Your Own was started by the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, a community organizing group working in a low-income Latino neighborhood; and

WHEREAS, After launching a Parent Mentor program in the 1990s, the Logan Square Neighborhood Association observed that many of the participating parents wanted to become teachers but could not afford college; the Association recognized this as an opportunity to further develop community-parent-school relations; and

WHEREAS, The Logan Square Neighborhood Association partnered with a faculty member from Chicago State University and was awarded a federal Teacher Quality Enhancement grant to launch Nueva Generacion, the precursor to Grow Your Own; the goal of the new program was to prepare teachers who knew the language and culture of the students in Logan Square's classrooms; and

WHEREAS, At the same time, Action Now, formerly Illinois ACORN, began to realize that their problem was not only recruiting teachers to the North Lawndale schools but also retaining good teachers; Action Now decided to tackle the goal of improving teacher quality and retention by creating a new coalition, the Chicago Learning Campaign; and

WHEREAS, The Logan Square Neighborhood Association was the first of many community organizations to join the campaign to "grow" teachers from local residents, including paraprofessionals, community leaders, and parents, thus creating the solution to the high rates of teacher turnover in their community; and

WHEREAS, The campaign was later joined by the TARGET Area Development Corporation in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood, Kenwood Oakland Community Organization from the mid-South Side, and Southwest Organizing Project in the Gage Park/Chicago Lawn neighborhood; and

WHEREAS, In 2004, the organizers successfully advocated for a Grow Your Own Teacher Education Act; in 2005, the program received State funding and became Grow Your Own Illinois, a non-profit organization; and

WHEREAS, Grow Your Own Illinois partnered with the Illinois State Board of Education to develop the initiative statewide; the organization was also responsible for brokering additional partnerships among community organizations, local school districts, and 4-year degree-granting universities; and

WHEREAS, In 2010, Grow Your Own Illinois was transferred to the Illinois Board of Higher Education, where the organization has been diligently working with the agency to improve the program; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we show our continued support for Grow Your Own Illinois' commitment to providing quality teachers from high-need communities who want to remain in their community; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Grow Your Own Illinois as a symbol of our esteem and respect.