Wednesday, July 29, 2009

New Directions for ETC

Each program faces its own challenges related to the budget this year. The Adult Education and Training Center (ETC) is especially vulnerable because over 50% of program funding depends upon the state. But we are not letting this get us depressed. The neighborhood level demand for the program remains strong, so we will figure out a way to fund it. The key is to understand the nature of the demand for our services. For example, we are serving more and more adults who are considered "ex-offenders". Around 40% of ETC students right now have a criminal record of some kind. So we are trying to plug into federal and other funding to serve people who are exiting prison. The ETC started as a welfare to work effort in the 1990s, but today we are finding we need to re-tool to meet the present day circumstances and demand. We had a great meeting today with Project Safe Neighborhoods about what they are doing and how we could work together. This issue will be big for Chicago Commons during the coming few months.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Summer Reading!


Ok, we need some good news. Here's some:

Who knew Ron Boggs, loyal Commons Board member, just published his second novel? Who knew he had a first novel? Insurance executive by day and spinning tales of intrigue by night.

His new book is called Natural Drift. Go see the blurb and buy it on Amazon (click here). And a percentage of the royalties will go to Chicago Commons!

Ron, thanks for this generous gift, now let's all help Ron get a movie deal.

More Budget Woes

Sorry that this new Chicago Commons blog is full of tales of woe... but it reflects the fact that our country is going through a time of re-prioritization.

On a more positive note, I actually believe it can be a good thing to reconsider one's priorities... what is truly most important? Potentially, the current budget mess could really help lead to an understanding about what state government does that we value.

One role I think we should value is the state's role in funding an effective education system for all children. Children are the future, and they are going to have to do a lot of innovating to create the economic growth necessary to pay all the bills we are racking up today!

So, it is truly frustrating to see early education get whacked this year.

Click here for an article on the $125 million cut to early childhood education. Next week we will learn exactly how this affects Commons and it may force painful sacrifices to our early childhood program and our commitment to quality.

Former Commons Board Member, Jesse Ruiz, now serves as Chair of the Board of Education. He had the impossible choice... which children to cut? Early childhood education was singled out for the biggest cuts mainly because the other education dollars leverage federal matching funds, but Pre-K funding does not. So, Jesse and the Board of Education made the right fiscal decision.

The real issue is that Governor Quinn and the Board of Education were hung out to dry by the State Legislature. That is where leadership is absent.





Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Accreditation


It has been a few busy weeks for the Child Development program. Three of our four pre-school locations hosted a team of early childhood educators during the past several weeks in order to renew our accreditation through the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). NAEYC is the ultimate "seal of approval" for early childhood centers.

NAEYC visits are unannounced, so staff must be on their toes at all time, showing our commitment to high quality. The assessment teams are very detailed, evaluating our facilities, curriculum, teacher - child interactions, parent involvement, professional development and the list goes on.

We will learn the official results in a few months, but the staff did a wonderful job and we feel confident that we will be re-accredited. Congratulations to everyone involved!

State Budget Advocacy

There are some excellent coalition groups organizing advocacy around the State Budget.

One of the best is the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. They are defending the potential cuts to the Illinois Community College Board, which is the key funding source for Commons' Adult Education and Training Center (ETC).

They have a great website where you can quickly send a message to the Governor to tell him to prioritize Community College funding, since it leverages significant federal funds. If Community College funds are cut even a small amount, the State will lose all of the federal matching funds for adult education because federal laws require states to maintain a constant amount of funding.

Send Message to Governor Quinn (Choose Save Adult Education Now)

State Budget Woes

The current State of Illinois budget is by far the most challenging funding situation I have experienced at Commons. And this is saying a lot because we faced a severe financial crisis at Commons several years ago.

It is the uncertainty that makes this so difficult. It is certain that cuts will be made, but we are now two weeks into the new fiscal year with no clarity from Illinois as to where the cuts will fall! When Commons had its own financial difficulties, it was hard, but we identified the tough decisions and made them as quickly as possible.

Here are a couple of links to good overviews of the current Illinois budget situation. Beware, it is not uplifting.

Rich Miller Column

Good article from Rockford

Monday, July 20, 2009

Welcome

Welcome to this new way of communicating with Chicago Commons!

When I came to Chicago Commons ten years ago, I found an organization engaged in a huge variety of neighborhood level work. I was inspired and it is a large reason I am here ten years later and that I became Executive Director in 2005.

But one thing I know from experience -- it is hard to get to know Commons and all of its work. As a new employee here in 1998 running a welfare-to-work program, I was completely unaware of many things Commons was doing. Every year I would discover a whole new area where Commons was making an impact.

Today, I am sure we are still struggling with the same issue... Commons does not always work to toot its own horn! At heart, we are a modest organization. Staff are realistic that it is not our work alone that makes the difference.. but that of neighborhood residents. Nonetheless, there are many good things we need to cheer about and many challenging things we need to share.

My purpose in starting this blog is to try to give you another way to learn about Chicago Commons and our ongoing work. I only hope I can do Commons justice!

Dan Valliere
Executive Director