Is The Promise Working?

The question has been posed all over the country, but it sounds the same at home: "Is the Kalamazoo Promise working?"

Mercifully, the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research is working hard to wrestle the question to the ground. But, as suspected, the answer to the question is "too soon to tell."

As an economic development strategy, the Promise is aimed squarely at the number one issue facing Kalamazoo County -- although historically the problem has had other names -- and that's the survival of the urban core. With the Kalamazoo Public Schools district enjoying enrollment increases, there are some obvious short-term positives, but educators are also concerned about some win-lose scenarios among local school districts. Notably, districts like Portage and Parchment have answered the bell to make sure their residents support their own school systems.

There are also issues related to the achievement of under-prepared high school graduates struggling in colleges and universities. So, the mentoring and support systems, which have flourished since the announcement, are being expanded to help older students -- and younger ones, including pre-schoolers, too. But, talk with Promise Administrator Robert Jorth about some of the success stories he's already seen with students headed off to college, and he'll tell you it's more about data. "Very inspiring," he offers. "Very inspiring."

In the end, most likely, there will be too many variables to determine if it was downtown development, improved education, infusion of capital into the cultural infrastructure, neighborhood revitalization, emphasis on healthy lifestyles, business incentives or some of the above that made the difference. Sure you can provide a link to leafy vegetables, or lack thereof, and cancer rates, but was that the only factor? No, just wait for the next study on exercise, air pollution, and so on. Cause and effect, at the community level, is a sticky wicket.

Just the same, the principles behind the Promise -- understanding the value of education and doing something about it -- continues, two and a half years after the announcement of the Promise. Leaders from other communities will visit Kalamazoo this summer to compare notes on their own efforts and a better understanding of the power of the Promise. For more information on that conference, go to PromiseNet.2008

Looking for data on what researchers know so far, and the types of things they're studying? Go to Scorecard.