New & Noteworthy

Youth organizer Maria Paula Degillo used to protest in downtown Chicago against the high rates of suspensions and expulsions for students of color. Now, she collaborates with Chicago Public Schools to create safe school environments without harsh discipline and over policing. Today, Degillo, with the group Voices of Youth in Chicago Education, is joining the district’s Chief of Safety and Security Jadine Chou at a City Club of Chicago event to highlight the partnership forged between the district and community organizations over the course of the last decade to improve school safety.

On Saturday, $39 billion in federal child-care funds made available through the American Rescue Plan Act are set to expire. As a result, close to 3.2 million children could lose their spots in early education programs. Congress can solve this problem. So far, however, it has declined to do so, starting with deciding not to pass the Build Back Better provisions in 2022 that would have made child-care funding permanent.

The Massachusetts Legislature is listening! Last week, the Joint Committee on Education held an informational hearing on early education and care in Massachusetts. Thanks to Committee Co-Chairs, Representative Denise Garlick and Senator Jason Lewis for organizing the hearing and listening to many different perspectives on the state of early education and care across the state. A recording of the event is posted here. Speaking at the hearing, Patrick Tutwiler, the state’s education secretary, said that as Massachusetts moves through the pandemic, it is essential “stabilize, heal, and transform” early education and care.

Sandra Treacy (Executive Director, 1999-2013) died peacefully in her sleep at her home in San Francisco on September 17th, 2023 with her husband Robert and son Daniel by her side. ...In 1999, Sandra began the last leg of her employment career as the Executive Director of a family foundation, the W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone Foundation, awarding grants in the areas of education, early education, and youth development. In selecting initiatives to fund, Sandra scoured the country to identify exemplary organizations and to award grants to nonprofits with innovative approaches to effecting positive change. In doing so, she drew upon her wealth of experience in the field of education as well as her appreciation of the challenges faced by nonprofits working within that field. In all of leadership positions, Sandra was an innovative thinker, an articulate communicator, and a generous mentor. Her grace, style, fortitude and verve were an inspiration to many.

As the Latino population grows beyond the borders of the city, Latinos are an increasingly essential part of the Chicago region’s social and economic fabric.

In 2013, California passed the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). The funding formula is intended to improve student outcomes and increase equity by providing more resources to districts with larger populations of low-income students, English language learners, and foster youth. Additionally, LCFF requires that stakeholder groups, including students, are included as districts develop their Local […]

As early childhood funders with a long history of working collaboratively with public sector partners, we applaud Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the Illinois General Assembly for passing a new state budget that includes Smart Start, a significant investment in prenatal to age 5 services — including child care, home visiting, early intervention, and infant/toddler and preschool programs.

Throughout modern history, young people–particularly young people of color, young women, working-class, queer and trans youth–have been at the forefront of movements for justice and equality. From the sit-ins of the Civil Rights movement to the anti-apartheid struggle to the recent uprisings against police brutality, young people time and again have taken actions to spark movements.

Black girls are too often subjected to discriminatory dress and grooming codes in Pennsylvania schools. They often endure racial or sexist slurs and curricula that are not responsive to their life experiences. And though they sometimes struggle socially and emotionally because of these conditions, adequate supports are not always available.