Full Text of HR0966 98th General Assembly
HR0966 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The initiative that was to become Grow Your Own | 3 | | was started by the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, a | 4 | | community organizing group working in a low-income Latino | 5 | | neighborhood; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, After launching a Parent Mentor program in the | 7 | | 1990s, the Logan Square Neighborhood Association observed that | 8 | | many of the participating parents wanted to become teachers but | 9 | | could not afford college; the Association recognized this as an | 10 | | opportunity to further develop community-parent-school | 11 | | relations; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, The Logan Square Neighborhood Association | 13 | | partnered with a faculty member from Chicago State University | 14 | | and was awarded a federal Teacher Quality Enhancement grant to | 15 | | launch Nueva Generacion, the precursor to Grow Your Own; the | 16 | | goal of the new program was to prepare teachers who knew the | 17 | | language and culture of the students in Logan Square's | 18 | | classrooms; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, At the same time, Action Now, formerly Illinois | 20 | | ACORN, began to realize that their problem was not only | 21 | | recruiting teachers to the North Lawndale schools but also | 22 | | retaining good teachers; Action Now decided to tackle the goal |
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| 1 | | of improving teacher quality and retention by creating a new | 2 | | coalition, the Chicago Learning Campaign; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, The Logan Square Neighborhood Association was the | 4 | | first of many community organizations to join the campaign to | 5 | | "grow" teachers from local residents, including | 6 | | paraprofessionals, community leaders, and parents, thus | 7 | | creating the solution to the high rates of teacher turnover in | 8 | | their community; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, The campaign was later joined by the TARGET Area | 10 | | Development Corporation in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood, | 11 | | Kenwood Oakland Community Organization from the mid-South | 12 | | Side, and Southwest Organizing Project in the Gage Park/Chicago | 13 | | Lawn neighborhood; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, In 2004, the organizers successfully advocated | 15 | | for a Grow Your Own Teacher Education Act; in 2005, the program | 16 | | received State funding and became Grow Your Own Illinois, a | 17 | | non-profit organization; and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Grow Your Own Illinois partnered with the Illinois | 19 | | State Board of Education to develop the initiative statewide; | 20 | | the organization was also responsible for brokering additional | 21 | | partnerships among community organizations, local school | 22 | | districts, and 4-year degree-granting universities; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, In 2010, Grow Your Own Illinois was transferred to | 2 | | the Illinois Board of Higher Education, where the organization | 3 | | has been diligently working with the agency to improve the | 4 | | program; therefore, be it
| 5 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 6 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 7 | | we show our continued support for Grow Your Own Illinois' | 8 | | commitment to providing quality teachers from high-need | 9 | | communities who want to remain in their community; and be it | 10 | | further
| 11 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 12 | | presented to Grow Your Own Illinois as a symbol of our esteem | 13 | | and respect.
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