Contact Your Legislators!

If you agree that Early Childhood Education is a priority for Illinois, here is your chance to act. Below is the text of an e-mail I received from the Ounce of Prevention Fund. Visit their website to learn more about the organization and the benefits of Early Childhood Education.

Ask your legislators to support early childhood priorities in the FY09 budget!!

Recently, members of the Illinois House of Representatives were asked to prioritize important budget issues. These issues will be critical as legislators begin to negotiate budget priorities for FY09.

TAKE ACTION!
Urge your legislators, Representatives and Senators, to talk with leadership about including the following early childhood investments in the FY09 budget:

Provide a $68 million increase to the Early Childhood Block Grant in the ISBE budget
Talking Point: A $68 million increase is needed in FY09 to ensure that we stay on track with our Preschool for All enrollment goals as well as to better respond to the overwhelming statewide demand for more infant-toddler programs.

Provide a $10 million increase to expand home visitation programs through the Department of Health and Human Services Healthy Families and Parents Too Soon budget lines
Talking Point: Home visiting programs in Illinois have not experienced an expansion since 2000 and serve only a tiny percentage of the at-risk children and families who could benefit from these services. Healthy Families, Parents Too Soon and other research-based parent coaching models effectively work with families, starting as early as pregnancy, providing support through the first years of life, to ensure that children at-risk of poor developmental outcomes grow up healthy and ready to learn.

Provide $30 million in any capital bill for early childhood facilities
Talking Point: Young children need safe, welcoming, and developmentally appropriate environments to stimulate learning. Yet, in certain areas around the state, families’ demand for early childhood services outpaces the availability of high-quality learning spaces.

Support increased investments in the Child Care Assistance Program
Talking Point: Support quality by maintaining the proposed FY09 IDHS Child Care budget. The budget includes $55 million to increase the child care reimbursement rate by 3% for all child care providers to meet the SEIU collective bargaining agreement and ensure parity. In addition, a budget increase of $45 million is needed to implement HB5297/SB 898 reducing parent co-payments to be no more than 10% of a low-income family’s income.

When contacting your legislators make sure they know how important these priorities are for the children and families in their districts. Urge them to talk with leadership about these early childhood issues and to include them in their list of priorities. If you can not make a call, please write an email or send a letter right away.

Click here if you need contact information for your legislators.

Thank you for all you do on behalf of young children and their families across Illinois .

201 Super put on Leave, Zarate Appointed Interim

Dr. Nowakowski, Superintendent of District 201, was put on paid leave until his contract expires at the end of this year. District 201 School Board appointed Morton East principal, Frank Zarate, interim Superintendent until a search is complete. Frank Zarate has indicated he will apply for the permanent position. Here is a promising article in the District 201 e-newsletter about the direction of our high school district in the near future with Zarate.

There is mention of CARES efforts to draw attention to the shortcomings of District 201:

"District 201 has been publicly criticized in recent months by residents and local education advocacy groups for not properly addressing serious challenges facing the schools' academics. Failing test scores and struggling graduation rates are among the district weaknesses that Zarate said he will broach during this transitory period."

The strong focus on curriculum and achievement hinted at in the article is very encouraging!

Rock the Vote Rescheduled, New Venue

Rock the Vote has been rescheduled for Friday, May 30th at 7pm at Tiger O'Stylies. Same plan: $40 gets you Open Bar, food, silent auction, live music, and a good feeling because you are giving to a good cause! We will be raising money for $1000 scholarships for Morton West seniors headed to college.

RSVP to berwyncares@yahoo.com to reserve your tickets!

Check back this week for blog posts related to elected officials and their impact on education in Berwyn.

Morton West Student named Golden Apple Scholar

Click here to read from the District 201 website about Morton West Student named Golden Apple Scholar. What an honor! Congratulations to her and her family.

At the Golden Apple website, the rigorous application process is described:

"Prospective Scholars must submit an application with seven essays, letters of reference, test scores and transcripts, and must interview at the finalist stage."

The award includes opportunities to study and train with master teachers during Summer Institutes, scholarships, and opportunities for paid internships and workshops. This program is funded primarily by the State of Illinois and some significant private donations.

Rock the Vote Change of Venue/Date

The 2nd annual Rock The Vote Concert will not be at Garv's. Due to circumstances beyond our control, we will need to change the venue. I will post the new location and possibly the new date ASAP.

Dual-language A Good Fit for Berwyn?

This article in the Chicago tribune highlights communities that are forward thinking about foreign languages. In Berwyn, though our diverse population makes a dual-language model ideal, this type of program is often dismissed. Perhaps it is time we started seeing our diversity and bilingual population as an asset. When CARES members brought up dual-language programming as part of the District 100 strategic planning, challenges such as expense and a level of commitment from families were discussed. However, in other communities, there are long waiting lists for such programs and districts are using pilot programs as magnet schools for families interested. From the article:

"Instead of a set class time a few times a week, 14 native-English speakers and 14 native-Spanish speakers will begin kindergarten in the same class, and another 28 will start 1st grade. Part of the school day, they will use English, but most of the instruction will be delivered in Spanish. That same group will progress together grade by grade, learning subjects in both languages.The result, experts say, will be students who truly are bilingual."

Perhaps our community and schools have been so focused on teaching the Spanish-speaking kids English, we've neglected to see that it benefits them to keep their Spanish speaking skills and it benefits English-speaking students to learn Spanish. Please read the whole article, but here is the part that struck me as most relevant to Berwyn:

"With the federal No Child Left Behind Act's focus on reading and math,
administrators worry about taking attention from those core subjects to provide time for languages and the arts, he said. But vocal parents who want their students to be competitive in a changing world can change minds."It's a matter of demand," Ackley said. "Parents are saying that this is important."Carole Davis, a mother of three Beebe students, said she excitedly submitted her 6-year-old daughter's name for one of the 1st-grade slots. She wants Lauren to become truly bilingual, a skill she said would make her daughter competitive in the workplace as an adult. But she also appreciates the larger message it sends to her daughter -- that learning other languages and cultures is worthwhile and valuable."

District 100 Technology Night

The 5th Annual Technology Night is Tuesday, April 8th at Freedom Middle School from 6:30-8:00pm. Student technology projects will be on display from all Dist. 100 schools. There will be a raffle and prizes!

Lincoln Middle School Teachers Receive Award

The Good News Report from District 98 included the following item. Congratulations!

"Two of our teachers at Lincoln Middle School have been named 2008 IMSA Award of Excellence Recipients. The award is given annually by the Illinois Math and Science Academy in recognition of educators who have challenged, inspired, and supported students’ academic and personal growth prior to their enrollment in IMSA. Two of our former students who are now enrolled full time at IMSA nominated Christine Crook and Stacy Goldman. IMSA believes the students that attend the Academy today are there because of the encouragement and support which Christine Crook and Stacy Goldman provided when they were students at Lincoln Middle School. On March 14th, the Academy held its “2008 Teacher Recognition Day” presenting awards to both teachers. We are proud of the students who are attending the Illinois Math &Science Academy, and we commend the work of such inspiring teachers as Christine Crook and Stacy Goldman."

Click here to read a previous post about the IMSA program at Lincoln Middle School.