HR0258 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0258 LRB098 11756 MST 44762 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives congratulate the 420 dedicated and path-breaking parent mentors for their daily commitment to working with early childhood students; and

WHEREAS, Decades of research confirms when families are involved in their children's education, children perform better in school, attend school more regularly, complete more homework, demonstrate more positive attitudes and behaviors, graduate from high school at higher rates, and are more likely to enroll in higher education; and

WHEREAS, Illinois is proud to be home to the nation's leading model for parent engagement-the Parent Mentor Program; and

WHEREAS, In only 6 months, through an Illinois State Board of Education grant to the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, the Parent Mentor Program has expanded successfully to 13 communities throughout Illinois - Aurora, Bolingbrook, Chicago Ridge, East Moline, Moline, Skokie, and 8 communities throughout Chicago; and

WHEREAS, Strong partnerships have been formed between local schools and the following community organizations: Arab American Family Services, Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, Casa Guanajuato, Developing Communities Project, Enlace Chicago, Family Focus Aurora, Logan Square Neighborhood Association, Mujeres Latinas en Accion, Niles Township ELL Parent Center and Open Communities, Northwest Side Housing Center, Southwest Organizing Project, Southwest Suburban Immigrant Project, and The Resurrection Project; and

WHEREAS, These community organizations have recruited and trained over 420 parent mentors, mostly immigrant and African American women, to work directly with students in the classroom for 2 hours per day every day; and

WHEREAS, The dedication of parent mentors has cut the adult-student ratio in half and increased individual attention to more than 10,000 low-income early childhood students every day, particularly in Illinois' growing student body of English language learners; and

WHEREAS, Over 420 teachers in high-needs positions benefit working side-by-side with a parent mentor on a daily basis and benefit a deepened understanding of the community in which they teach; and

WHEREAS, 44 school administrators from across the State have testified that the Parent Mentor Program has become so integral to their schools that their "teachers can no longer imagine their classrooms without their parent mentors"; and

WHEREAS, The Parent Mentor Program has an 18 year track record of improving test scores and increasing high school graduation rates based on the model programs of Logan Square Neighborhood Association and Southwest Organizing Project; and

WHEREAS, The Parent Mentor Program is a leading immigrant integration and women's leadership model, offering a ladder of opportunity and opening doors for parents-mostly immigrant and African American women-into education, careers, and public life; thus changing their own family's whole trajectory; and

WHEREAS, The Parent Mentor Program offers parents not only an opportunity to volunteer or attend a workshop, but to develop as leaders to transform their lives, schools, and communities; and

WHEREAS, The Parent Mentor Program is a cost-effective program, costing approximately $200 per early childhood student; and

WHEREAS, Communities downstate and throughout northern Illinois are eager to bring the Parent Mentor Program to their schools; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we express our support for appropriating the Parent Mentor Program for Early Childhood Education at $3.5 million through an Illinois State Board of Education grant to the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the Illinois State Board of Education and the Parent Mentor Program.