I’ve written several posts about the Parent Mentor Program of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association in Chicago.

An article titled Parent mentor program at risk of losing funds now describes some challenges they’re facing. Here’s an excerpt:

A year after winning state funding to expand a program aimed at getting parents actively involved in their children’s education, advocates spent Thursday in Springfield fighting to keep it going.

Since 1995, Logan Square Neighborhood Association and the Southwest Organizing Project have run parent mentor programs in their communities. Last year, these organizations and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights won $1 million in the state budget to expand the Parent Mentor Program across the state.

The program is now in 57 schools in ten Chicago communities, Aurora, Bolingbrook, Chicago Ridge, Quad Cities and Skokie. The parent mentor program trains parents on how to work in a classroom, alongside a teacher, and provides them with stipends of $500 per 100-volunteer-hours for their work.

The funding, from Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), is now however at risk due to state budget cuts. Bridget Murphy, an Education Organizer at LSNA said that although they were not included in the governor’s budget proposal, they have a lot of support among state legislators and are working hard to restore and grow parent mentor funding for FY14.