ACORN worked with LSNA and the Cross City Campaign for Urban School Reform to assemble a coalition of community organizing groups, district officials, leaders from university teacher preparation programs, the teachers unions, and elected officials to advocate for the program. The coalition secured state legislation and funding to support the program, which was launched in 2005. The program is implemented by regional consortia of universities, school districts, and community organizations that work together to develop local teacher pipeline programs.

FINDINGS

This report shares findings from a six-year research study on the impact of ACORN's education organizing on Chicago schools. The study found that community organizing contributed to increased educational opportunities in several important ways:

• enhanced equity by focusing the district's attention on the needs of underserved schools, helping to bring new state resources to address teacher quality, and securing funds for facilities improvements;
  
  
• led to the development and funding of a new approach to teacher preparation programs that drew on the assets of underserved communities;
  
  
• established new roles for parent and community constituencies in improving teacher quality in historically hard-to-staff schools.