Grow Your Own teachers held a lively rally Tuesday in the state Capitol building, pushing the legislature to fully fund the $3.4 million program that encourages parents, school employees and community members to study education and return to their home districts to teach.
The group heard from a variety of legislators, including Speaker of the House Michael Madigan, and people involved in education, including IEA Secretary/Treasurer Cinda Klickna.
Madigan and Klickna both emphasized to the crowd how important what they do is for the kids in their schools.
Members of the organization cheered during the rally and also met with individual legislators, urging them to continue to fund the program.
More than 100 potential Grow Your Own teachers were in attendance. Most come from low-income communities where they are identified as being active in the school. GYO then helps them afford to go to college.
In exchange, they come back to teach where their ties are, making for stronger schools and a variety of role models for students in that district.
Organizers of the rally say the program is worthwhile and imperative for the legislature to fund. They note:
- Teacher retention saves money: TYO teachers-to-be live in the low-income
neighborhoods where they will teach. They will stay, once hired, saving their school districts the estimated $50,000 spent to recruit, hire, induct and mentor each new teacher. - Racial/cultural diversity benefits low-income students: GYO is a pipeline of teachers of color. Eighty-five percent of TYO candidates are people of color (compared to 13 percent of teacher graduates of color from all Illinois universities and colleges, 2008). They understand the language, community and culture of the students they will teach, critical to academic achievement.
- GYO candidates are preparing for hard-to-fill positions: Forty-three percent of GYO candidates are preparing to be special education or bilingual education teachers, positions historically difficult to fill.
There are 16 GYO partnerships in Illinois, eight of which are in Chicago. The rest are in Alton, East St. Louis, Peoria, Quad Cities, Rockford, the south suburbs, southern Illinois and Springfield. There are 450 GYO candidates. Twenty-one people have graduated from the program that was first funded in 2007.
By the numbers: Who are GYO candidates?
- 83 percent female, 17 percent male
- 39 is the average age
- 53 percent are African-American, 32 percent Hispanic
- 63 percent are employed full-time, 13 percent part-time
- 64 percent have dependents
- More than half have family incomes below 30 percent
- More than half work in schools. 60 percent are parents or volunteers.
- 81 percent began with college credits or an associate’s degree.
- 3.01 is the average GPA, with many making the dean’s list or winning academic honors.