Guest Column: 10 lessons from the Kalamazoo Promise

By Janice Brown
Executive Director
The Kalamazoo Promise

With the recent signing of The Promise Zone legislation by Governor Jennifer Granholm, interest in looking at the progress of one southwest community — the greater Kalamazoo community and what has been learned from The Kalamazoo Promise (TKP) — may be useful. Now in its third year of operation, thoughts are offered focusing on what is happening in one Midwest, mid-size, Southwest Michigan urban community.

Beginning with the early discussions about this scholarship initiative, The Kalamazoo Promise was intended to be a catalyst for economic development focused on a new generation of learners and workers. While there are tremendous benefits to every Kalamazoo Public School resident graduate, it was known from the start that this scholarship is for everyone’s benefit — students, families, city and community alike. The leadership in Kalamazoo has continued the process of figuring out how to use this initiative to achieve maximum benefit for not only the young people of the community, but for companies and organizations as a whole. Here are a few highlights and common themes that this community is addressing now:

1. While The Kalamazoo Promise is the most incredible scholarship program in the USA, to be successful, it is only the beginning of a long series of initiatives that need to be addressed by a community. It seems that the work of TKP has indeed focused on the importance of the community work. Having always been a tenacious and resilient community, Kalamazoo residents recognized that investing in education for economic development of the community did not just start when the Promise was announced. The development of the downtown area, the work of Southwest Michigan First and the Chamber as well as host of other initiatives earlier and even concurrent showed that community members understand this interrelationship. Without question, the Kalamazoo community recognizes that The Kalamazoo Promise is the “carrot” and is helping the community focus on becoming a world class leader in education for the betterment of the entire community.

2. There are many initiatives to support, align and discover as the work of The Kalamazoo Promise unfolds. Drawing from the holistic nature of this scholarship initiative, The Kalamazoo Promise identifies that there are at least four major initiatives that offer a framework and that the work of the Promise can be defined in these areas. Included are: economic development, core city vitality, PreK-16 education and student support. The primary benefit of defining these areas is to help pose critical questions and frame the work. Economic development is critical if families are going to continue to move to the Kalamazoo area; in simplest terms, creating jobs for the parents will cause the children to come. In our beautiful downtown area safety is vital, and the arts continue to be an important part of this hub. While much work in education remains, it is known that families bring their children to schools that they believe are successful and will accept nothing less. Finally, while The Kalamazoo Promise addresses the affordability issue, huge issues remain such as all the supports needed to get students college-ready, being prepared and assuring college access is equitable to all.

3. There is a role for every business, organization and resident in the community. Tapping the four strategic areas above, there are many choices for how the work of the community can be done. There are also choices to make about how organizations, businesses, churches, etc. decide what they will offer to the success of The Kalamazoo Promise. The relationship is reciprocal and people and organizations that begin to foster the benefits of this initiative stand to gain much. Important questions arise, for example: How much more money do employees get when they come to Kalamazoo and have Promise students? How many families in a workplace are Promise families? What kind of support do they need so that their children are successful? How do we promote education for a world-class community in our organization? And surely, what are the overall benefits of a highly educated community to my organization? And a question for everyone… how can I help?

4. The Kalamazoo Promise requires a plan with a vision, mission, as well as defined and accountable work. Simply stated, The Kalamazoo Promise is a lot of work. Not only does The Kalamazoo Promise require all the elements of good business practice, but it needs a plan that can be shared and communicated to the entire community. Community-wide participation, buy in and commitment is challenging, but the pay off for a community vision is important and real. In turn, community leaders can articulate that role and common language within their organizations. The alignment for this scholarship initiative needs to be both horizontal and vertical—between the organizations in the community and within each one of them. This alignment helps organizations accept the accountability that comes with such a universal gift.

5. Additional resources are needed to support students, some say to the extent that The Kalamazoo Promise is costing now. The Kalamazoo Promise is not cheap. There are significant costs related to the student supports that need to be in place. There are huge costs of time and investment—time to be involved, to think strategically, to think about transformation, and to think long term. These costs may be even higher than the scholarship program itself. But in the long run, there is no better investment than that of education, investing in the youth of the community to carry forward on the vitality and quality of the life of the community as a whole.

6. While generalization is premature, preliminary results for this scholarship initiative are very compelling. Kayser Aluminum officials will tell you (Wall Street Journal) they are coming to Kalamazoo because of The Kalamazoo Promise. Bill Parfet, president of MPI will tell you that 75% of new workers hired at his company over the next five years will need a college education. Fabri-Kal administrators will tell you the best place for their new research plant is in Kalamazoo, and all agree that is because of the educational focus of their companies and this community. And each and every day, Southwest Michigan First is using The Kalamazoo Promise as an incentive and as a hook to bring the businesses here. But that is only half of the story.

About 85% of Kalamazoo Public Students have used their scholarship so far. And over 80% of students who have enrolled at Michigan’s premiere universities are still in college. In three years time, over 1,100 students have taken advantage of this opportunity and the scholarship is expected to award over ten million dollars by the end of 2009. Of the total dollars to date, about 49% has stayed within the community because of Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo Valley Community College. And if folks think that college affordability isn’t a key factor in attendance, looking at the University of Michigan numbers over the past three years tell a pretty compelling story. In 2006 17 Kalamazoo Public School students went to Michigan, in 2007 it was 34 and this year add 44 for a total of 95 students at University of Michigan. And the statistics at Michigan State look very similar. When given choices and monetary support for their higher education goals, students are selecting the more expensive universities. As the university with the most Promise students Western Michigan boasts its first million dollar bill to The Kalamazoo Promise this year.

7. The work of The Kalamazoo Promise is never done; it is considered to be a long-term economic development initiative and it is intergenerational. The work of The Kalamazoo Promise is not a quick fix; and, community members have come to realize this. Raising expectations, coordinating resources and services, building trust and breaking down barriers takes a lot of work by a lot of people and it is not easy. Even so, it is agreed that the investment of time and energy will have a fabulous pay-off in the long run for the community and its residents.

8. Collect data on ….everything! Right now we can tell just about everything educationally about each Promise student—schools, status, year, all the gender, race and aggregate numbers. But even that is not enough; when the Promise was announced the WE Upjohn Institute for Employment Research was contracted to collect and analyze all the “other” data important to progress and that includes employment, housing, education level, influx, retention and a host of other variables that can tell the story of The Kalamazoo Promise. While still in its infancy stage a story is beginning to emerge that portrays the power of postsecondary education.

9. Every child needs to and deserves to go to college or some form of higher education. This statement is fundamental to how a community responds to a promise-like initiative and its vision. Do key stakeholders really understand and believe that college is a must, and that higher education is a necessity and not a privilege? Do people believe and know that the economic impact of a highly educated workforce creates significantly more dollars for a community? These conversations are critical and important to any “promise-like” community.

10. Use the media to your advantage. Interest, support and coverage of The Kalamazoo Promise has been incredible. News releases by many organizations in Kalamazoo have helped; and the coverage continues. A spokesperson helps, but there are many people in the greater Kalamazoo area positioned to discuss its benefits. There is always a “good news” story about students, equity, overcoming obstacles regarding education and the public wants to hear! Especially in today’s environment, programs such as The Kalamazoo Promise can provide both the hope and action to create forward momentum.

Whether you are in one of the fortunate Promise Zone areas, just thinking about, or actually implementing some form of promise post-secondary scholarship program, these issues can be a forum for your discussions too. Here in Kalamazoo, we haven’t stopped talking yet!!!

Janice M. Brown, Ed.D., Executive Director, The Kalamazoo Promise. jbrown@kalamazoopromise.com 269-337-0037