Piccolo Protest

Piccolo Elementary -- in the news today for the parents who occupied the school overnight.

Since last summer, Chicago Commons has been involved at Piccolo when a good new principal was hired by CPS. We started parent classes and after-school activities at Piccolo this Fall.

In December, CPS announced a proposal for Piccolo to be “turned around”, which means replacing all staff with new staff including the principal. The Board of Education votes on this proposal next week.

Here is our perspective on the protest: Piccolo has been struggling for years, but when CPS fired the previous principal and hired a new principal last summer, they created positive energy among parents. That is why we are even at the school. If it weren’t for CPS hiring the new principal, it is unlikely the parents would have even organized this type of protest. So, in a way, the protest itself is a product of CPS’ own successful effort to improve the school last year.

Chicago Commons supports a community council counter proposal to delay turnaround at Piccolo for one or two years… monitor the outcomes (i.e. test score data) and then do a turnaround (with parent/community support) if no real progress is showing at that point. So far the Mayor and CPS leadership have not responded to this idea. We shall see what happens next week.

Regardless of outcome, Chicago Commons is committed to supporting improvement at Piccolo however we can.

Beyond This Blog

You need to check out the Chicago Commons RISE Tumblr Site!

Ok, I've been posting on this blog for a couple years.

It's a nice archive of thoughts along the way.

But this blog is such a narrow window onto Chicago Commons.

I am really excited about the potential for using tools like Tumblr. Instead of having to read a lot of text, you can just scan the "stream" of posts. You can literally see how the year is progressing just through the chain of images and short posts. Ok -- End of advertisement for Tumblr.

Just go check out RISE site at Richards, this is what the future looks like.

Another lens on Hull House Closing

What would Jane Addams think of Hull House closing?

One of our Associate Board Members, Ivan Medina, answered this question publicly in The Chronicle of Philanthropy last week. Link is for subsription only, so here's quick version:

Ivan thinks Jane Addams would not have recognized Hull House today. Her Hull House was not supported much by government. Today's Hull House had become a patchwork collection of government funded programs to a large degree.

“Jane Addams was about social change. She challenged government. She organized strikes,” Ivan says. “If you become an arm of government, you can’t protest government, its bad policies and unequal services. You can’t take the stands you need to take.”

Ivan thinks she might be most upset by how employees were treated at the end -- one week’s notice, no extended health insurance or severance pay. “She would be organizing them for protests.”

Hull House

A sad day for Chicago with the rapid closure of Hull House last week.

Chicago Commons enjoyed a long history of cooperation with Hull House.

Graham Taylor, Commons’ founder, was a friend of Hull House’s Jane Addams and served on their Board over a century ago.

Hull House and Chicago Commons both have been leading social service organizations over the past 25 years -- expanding pre-school opportunities in neighborhoods with highest poverty, creating highly successful adult education programs for the unemployed, and establishing a presence in troubled public housing developments.

The two organizations even discussed a merger in 2005, ultimately deciding the time was not right.

The closure of Hull House does not mean that the day of neighborhood based charities is over. To the contrary, it is as vital as ever.

Hull House’s financial struggles were the result of heavy reliance on State of Illinois funding and lack of focus.

Chicago Commons had its own financial struggles a few years back. Our key to success was FOCUS. We were able to right the ship by focusing on specific neighborhoods with highest needs and deepening our work in those neighborhoods. This sense of focus on neighborhoods and services has helped strengthen our finances by clarifying what is most important and allowing us to simplify our organization.

The legacy of neighborhood based social programs is alive and well in Chicago!

Thanks HSA!!

HSA Commercial Real Estate has supported Commons for many years. This year, they joined us in our efforts to support the public schools in our neighborhoods.

HSA employees generously provided essential winter clothing and supplies for 19 families in need at Piccolo Elementary in West Humboldt Park.

Piccolo is one of the schools proposed for turnaround next year by Chicago Public Schools. While the debate goes on about the best way to improve Piccolo, the students and staff continue to work hard to improve this year. HSA's support went a long way to boost morale among students. Many of the students said it was the first time they had received holiday gifts through the school.

Thanks HSA!!

The Eligibility Cliff

Got a call today from a mother whose 1^st grader attended one of our pre-schools.

She really wants her daughter to attend our after-school program at her old pre-school site. But she makes $120 too much per month to qualify for the program (per State of Illinois and federal rules).

She has been unsuccessful at finding workable alternatives, she can afford from her modest paycheck (under $30,000 per year). She called the Executive Director’s office out of sheer frustration after two years of struggling to find an alternative.

This is all because she fell off the “eligibility cliff”. There is a moment that families crosses an invisible income line and suddenly become ineligible.. there is no phase out. It is one of the worst perverse incentives, I’ve ever seen. “You earn too much”.

Kudos to our staff who help families navigate this complicated web of funding and eligibility rules, but the whole system is built without a foundation.

There are ways to make it more rational, but it is going to take much more leadership from organizations like Chicago Commons if it is ever going to happen.

City Budget Notes

It is City Budget time. And this year the City government really must make some hard choices. Both expense cuts and revenues increases are required. It is a double whammy. Mayor Emanuel included both, so that is a good start.

Now come the moral choices… what will we sacrifice? One topic for non-profits is free water. Non-profits like Chicago Commons have been getting free water for years. In good times, our city could afford this nice benefit. However, times are tough and we may need to pay our own way now. Does Commons like it? Of course not. Are we going to advocate against it? No. Sacrifices must be made.

Are we against anything in the Mayor’s budget? Yes. Two budget cuts are really bad ideas:

1. Cutting library hours. The library is a singularly important place in our neighborhoods. One of the few safe places where true learning can happen. It allows residents to pursue whatever it is they are after. We need more library hours, not less! The new West Humboldt library is seeing over 800 people per day and growing.

2. Cutting free tax services. There is a tiny amount of money in budget for free tax preparation services. It is cut by over half. However, for low-income families this is an absolute godsend. Most low-income working families with kids get a big tax refund thanks to Earned Income Tax Credit. Cutting this benefit means many families will not even do their taxes or could be gouged by a private preparer. This city-funded service injects way more money into the pockets of low-income families than it costs us.