Increasing Parent Mentor Program Funding
This year Illinois increased the Parent Mentor Program grant to $3.5 million – a $1 million increase from 2019. With this funding, 30 more schools receive support from parent mentors in primarily Black and Brown communities where funding has largely been divested. SWOP organizer Maggie Perales runs finances for the entire statewide parent mentor program. Perales emphasized the impact of this funding increase on their work this year: 30 more schools, each with 8 more parent mentors, each supporting around…