New & Noteworthy

In this issue, three practitioners share how their grantmaking strategies have shifted, what movement they see in the sector at large, and how those in philanthropy looking to make a change can get started. Philanthropy’s often onerous reporting and evaluation requirements is a longstanding problem for many of our grantees At best, they are distracted by critical work being funded, and at worst, they are locked out of funding opportunities altogether. This has been acutely felt among grassroots organizations rooted in Black and Latino communities. Joining us in this conversation is Sara Slaughter, Executive Director of the W. Clement & Jessie V. Stone Foundation, Rachel Herzing, Program Officer at Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, and Nahir Torres, Senior Program Officer at the Hyams Foundation.

Early Childhood Educators Set Illinois Kids on the Path to Success, a new report from Council for a Strong America-Illinois focuses on one vital aspect of efforts to improve [the Illinois early childhood] picture. It notes that the most fundamental features of solid early learning programs include “highly-qualified staff who are well-trained both before and during their service and who are adequately supported and compensated.” Yet in Illinois, child care teachers earn an average of only $28,730 per year and preK teachers about $35,840, compared with $65,790 for kindergarten educators. In birth-to-3 programs, the disparities are even more bleak.

In an effort to better support Black educators across the nation, Foundation grantee National Center on Teacher Residencies (NCTR) recently released its report, “Doing Better for Black Educators: Six Policy Recommendations for Improving the Recruitment and Preparation of Black Educators.”

The continuing lack of access to high-quality and affordable child care has more than doubled its blow to the U.S. economy over the last five years, now costing $122 billion in lost earnings, productivity and revenue every year.

A first glimpse at public school enrollment in Illinois shows continued declines in the overall student population, but an uptick in the number of students learning English. Preliminary data released last week by the Illinois State Board of Education shows overall enrollment dropped by about 31,000 students — or 1.7% — between last school year and the current one, according to numbers as of Dec. 14. Chicago Public Schools accounts for at least a quarter of the decline. The district lost 9,000 students and its place as the third largest school district in the country.

Foundation grantee, the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment, recently published the Early Educator Engagement and Empowerment Toolkit which aims to support early educators in their advocacy, power building, and stakeholder engagement. It features the latest facts and policy solutions about the ECE workforce that educators can use to build arguments for change, […]

In 2019, the National Center on Teacher Residencies (NCTR), a Foundation grantee, launched the Black Educator Initiative, an effort designed to recruit, prepare, and retain new Black teachers through NCTR’s national network of teacher residency programs. A Foundation supported evaluation of this effort led to the development of a report titled “Recruitment and Retention of […]

The Rennie Center for Education and Research Policy and the Massachusetts Early Childhood Funder Collaborative unveiled Early Childhood 101, an interactive website that maps out all the various ways in which young kids and parents interact with programs and services like health care, housing support, employment assistance and more.

The W. Clement & Jessie V. Stone Foundation awarded approximately $5 million in grants in 2022. Please visit our Grants Awarded section for detailed descriptions.