The SY2014 CMSDL Allstate Expanding Opportunities Initiative

Allstate is once again a very generous corporate sponsor of the Chicago Debate League in the 2013/14 season.

Facilitated by the work of the Chicago Debate Commission, Allstate is generously funding the Allstate Expanding Opportunities Initiative. This Allstate Initiative focuses resources on schools that work with very high percentages of lower-income students with the goal that they will undertake and sustain the extra effort necessary to include additional students into the competitive debate league. Allstate Expanding Opportunities Initiative incentives are provided to schools for increasing participation in competitive academic debate this year over last year — for expanding the opportunities of lower-income students by using what may be the most powerful academic tool in secondary schools: argumentation based on and in evidence drawn from complex texts. Allstate and the CDC are committed to allocating resources to educator-coaches working in the most challenging conditions and producing results.

The schools in the Expanding Opportunities category are schools with 80% or more Title I (from low-income families) students. Based on a full SY2014 roster of school demographics, the following 15 middle schools (48% of the 31 total middle schools in the CDL) are part of the Allstate Expanding Opportunities Initiative, shown here with their Title I student percentage:

Ames (98%)
Beasley (84%)
Carroll/Rosenwald (87%)
Chicago Jesuit (92%)
CICS Chicago Quest (83%)
Comer (85%)
Dodge (96%)
Frazier (92%)
Harvard (97%)
Kershaw (94%)
Lovett (91%)
McCutcheon (99%)
Nobel (98%)
Shoop (95%)
Zapata (98%)

Allstate Expanding Opportunities Incentives disburse $100 for every 10 tournament debaters schools have after T2 this season (SY2014) over their total after T2 last season (SY2013). Then again after T5, each Expanding Opportunities school will receive another $100 in coach incentives for every 10 tournament debaters they had by the end of this season over the end of last season (these incentives will be capped at $4,000 for the season, per the grant from Allstate).

Following T2, here are the schools that have earned these additional Allstate Expanding Opportunities Incentives, and in these specific amounts (which are also included on the fourth page of the CMSDL Tournament Reporting Notebook):

Beasley — $200
Frazier — $100
Kershaw — $100
Lovett — $50
McCutcheon — $100
Nobel — $200
Zapata — $50

Coaches can expect their incentive payment checks from the CDC later this month.

We thank Allstate Insurance for its generosity.