Chicago Annenberg Challenge facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

The Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC) was a big project to help improve public schools in Chicago. It ran from 1995 to 2001 and worked with about half of Chicago's public schools. The project received a huge grant of $49.2 million from the Annenberg Foundation. This grant was special because it was a "challenge grant," meaning the project had to raise twice that amount ($98.4 million) from other private and public sources to get the full Annenberg money. The Chicago Annenberg Challenge also helped start a new group called the Chicago Public Education Fund (CPEF) in 1998, giving it $2 million to begin.

The Annenberg Challenge Across the U.S.
How the Project Worked
Starting the Chicago Public Education Fund
What Was Learned
See also

The Annenberg Challenge Across the U.S.

In the 1990s, a very rich person named Walter Annenberg, who used to be an ambassador, became known as one of the most generous people in the United States. By 1998, he had given away more than $2 billion!

Why Walter Annenberg Helped Schools

Walter Annenberg believed that public schools needed a lot of help, especially in big cities. He felt that if public education wasn't strong, the country's future would be at risk. He wanted to do something big to make a difference.

In December 1993, Annenberg announced his plan to give $500 million over five years to support public school reform across the nation. This was called the "Challenge to the Nation." A large part of this money, $387 million, was set aside for improving schools in big cities and rural areas, and for arts education.

Annenberg asked his friend, Vartan Gregorian, to help decide how to use the $387 million. Gregorian worked with university leaders and business people to create teams in different cities. These teams would apply for grants to improve their local schools.

Nine large grants were given to major cities like New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston.
Smaller grants went to other cities like Atlanta and Salt Lake City.
A big part of the money, $50 million, helped start the national Rural Challenge, which supported over 700 schools in the countryside.
Three grants also went to support arts education programs.

How Chicago Got Involved

Three people helped write Chicago's winning proposal for the $49.2 million Annenberg Challenge grant:

William Ayers, a professor who worked with school reform groups.
Anne Hallett, who led a group focused on urban school reform.
Warren Chapman, who worked for a foundation and was involved in school alliances.

These three met in December 1993 to plan how Chicago could win a grant. They worked with a large group of 73 people from different school reform organizations in Chicago to write the proposal.

Important foundations in Chicago, like the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, and the Spencer Foundation, supported the proposal. They also promised to help raise the matching funds needed. Their support helped smooth things over with the Mayor of Chicago, the Chicago Public Schools, and the Chicago Teachers Union, who had also submitted their own ideas.

On January 23, 1995, Chicago officially received the $49.2 million grant. This money was meant to be given out over five years. To get the full amount, Chicago had to raise $49.2 million from private donations and $49.2 million from public money. The Annenberg Foundation allowed Chicago to count money that local foundations were already spending on school reform towards this match.

The Chicago Annenberg Challenge decided to give its grants to "external partners" who worked with groups of 5 to 10 schools. These partners could be school reform groups, teacher unions, community organizations, universities, or local businesses. This was different from giving money directly to individual schools or system-wide programs.

Who Led the Chicago Annenberg Challenge

An 8-member board of directors was chosen to approve grants and manage the project. This board was picked to include people from the community, business, and civic leaders, making sure they didn't have a personal interest in the Annenberg money.

Barack Obama, who later became President of the United States, was chosen as the first chairman of the board of directors for the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (1995–1999). Patricia Albjerg Graham was the vice chairman.

A larger group of 23 people, called the Chicago School Reform Collaborative, was also formed. This group included parents, teachers, activists, and school leaders. They helped design how schools could apply for grants and worked with the project staff.

Ken Rolling became the executive director of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge in September 1995. He and his staff managed the day-to-day operations.

Board of Directors Members (1995)

Patricia Albjerg Graham
Barack Obama, who was a civil rights attorney and lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School.
Stanley O. Ikenberry, president of the University of Illinois.
Arnold R. Weber, president of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Raymond G. Romero, a vice president at Ameritech.
Wanda White, executive director of the Community Workshop on Economic Development.
Susan M. Crown, president of the Arie and Ida Crown Memorial.
Handy L. Lindsey, Jr., executive director of the Field Foundation of Illinois.

Barack Obama stepped down as chairman in September 1999 to run for Congress. Edward Bottum took over as chairman.

Chicago School Reform Collaborative Members (1995)

William Ayers
Warren Chapman
Anne Hallett
Patricia Anderson, a high school principal.
Sheila Castillo, a coordinator for Local School Councils.
Jessica Clarke, education director at the Chicago Urban League.
Dolores Cross, president of Chicago State University.
James Deanes, president of the Parent/Community Council.
Lafayette Ford, a Local School Council member.
Adela Coronado-Greeley, a teacher and founder of a magnet school.
Patricia Harvey, an executive assistant for Chicago Public Schools.
Brenda Heffner, director of the Chicago office of the Illinois State Board of Education.
Sokoni Karanja, executive director of Centers for New Horizons.
Peter Martinez, a program officer for education at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Coretta McFerren, executive director of West Side Schools and Communities Organizing for Restructuring and Planning.
Eric Outten, co-chairman of Schools First.
Migdalia "Millie" Rivera, executive director of the Latino Institute.
Joan Jeter-Slay, associate director of Designs for Change.
Bernard Spillman, a consultant for the Comer Project.
Lynn St. James, co-director of the Chicago Forum for School Change.
Carol Swinney, policy advisor for the Office of the Mayor.
Beverly Tunney, president of the Chicago Principals & Administrators Association.
Deborah Lynch-Walsh, director of the Chicago Teachers Union Quest Center.

How the Project Worked

By August 1995, 177 groups of schools applied for grants. The board invited 89 of these to submit full proposals. In November, grants were approved for 35 groups of schools, covering 170 schools. This allowed the Chicago Annenberg Challenge to receive its first $3 million from the Annenberg Foundation.

The project awarded grants to networks of schools. Some networks received larger grants to expand existing programs, while others received smaller grants for planning new ideas. The number of schools receiving grants grew from 138 in 1996 to over 200 by 1998.

The "external partners" working with these schools were diverse. Many were universities or education organizations, but others included neighborhood groups, youth organizations, museums (like the Chicago Academy of Sciences and the Chicago Children's Museum), parks (like the Garfield Park Conservatory), and arts groups (like the Chicago Symphony Orchestra).

The Chicago Annenberg Challenge received its full $49.2 million from the Annenberg Foundation by 1999. It continued to fund school grants until June 2001. Funding for most schools decreased in the last two years, but 18 "breakthrough schools" received special, continued support to help them become models for others.

By the end of 1999, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge had successfully raised over $110 million in matching funds, which was more than the $98.4 million required. Many foundations and corporations contributed to this, including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, and the Polk Bros. Foundation.

The project also raised $3.5 million for a large research study on urban school reform, conducted by the Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCSR).

Starting the Chicago Public Education Fund

In 1997, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge board started planning for a new organization to continue supporting public education in Chicago. In June 1998, they committed $2 million to start the Chicago Public Education Fund (CPEF). This new fund was officially created in January 1999.

The Chicago Public Education Fund focused on different goals than the Annenberg Challenge. Instead of many small grants to school networks, it aimed to make fewer, larger grants for system-wide improvements. Its main focus was on helping to find, keep, and improve principals and teachers.

Some of its early programs included:

The LAUNCH program, which helped principals develop their leadership skills.
Supporting National Board Certification for experienced teachers, which is a high standard for teaching excellence.
Creating "Alternative Certification" programs to bring talented people from other careers, especially in math and science, into teaching.

When the Chicago Annenberg Challenge finished its work in 2002, it donated all its records to the University of Illinois at Chicago library so that people could study its history.

What Was Learned

The Annenberg Challenge faced some criticism, especially from those who believed in private school vouchers. However, Walter Annenberg believed strongly in public education and ignored these criticisms. He knew that big changes take time and didn't expect instant, measurable results. His main goal was to inspire communities and other donors to get involved, and in that, he succeeded, as the Challenge helped raise an additional $600 million nationwide.

In June 2002, a final report on the Annenberg Challenge was released. It shared important lessons learned:

Every child benefits from high expectations and standards. In Chicago, elementary students in the Challenge schools improved from being half a grade behind the city average to a quarter-grade ahead of students in other schools.
Even large gifts are not a substitute for enough, fair, and reliable funding. While the Challenge gave millions, it reached hundreds of schools, and the typical grant per elementary school was small compared to their overall budget.

A research report in 2003 looked at the Chicago Annenberg Challenge's impact. It found that while student achievement improved in Annenberg Challenge schools, it also improved across the Chicago Public School system as a whole. The report suggested that the Challenge had little extra impact on school improvement or student results for most schools. However, the "breakthrough schools" that received special support did show more significant improvements in teacher community, leadership, and trust.