A $2 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will support some of the groundbreaking national work that CEA has been involved in for many years.

With this funding, the five Teacher Union Reform Network (TURN) regional satellites will expand efforts to help educators and unions to lead the education reform movement on policies, programs and practices that impact schools, teaching and learning.

Leaders of the TURN locals assemble three times per year to discuss and explore issues related to education reform and the role of teacher unions in advancing the cause of public education. CEA is a founding member of TURN and the Great Lakes TURN Satellite.

Founded in 1986, TURN’s members include locals from both the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association. TURN’s goals are to:

* Expand work on improvements in the teaching profession and increase student achievement
* Build labor/management partnerships to enhance policies and programs
* Facilitate deeper discussions on teacher evaluation and meaningful measures of student growth
* Encourage and support teacher unions and their leaders to become more effective partners

CCS Superintendent Gene Harris and CEA President Rhonda Johnson were recently invited to the Southwest TURN satellite meeting to talk about labor-management collaboration, teacher effectiveness and higher education partnerships.

TURN’s efforts are being managed by the Consortium for Educational Change (CEC), a reform model established by the Illinois Education Association to work with school districts, including boards of education, administration and union locals, on collaborative projects.