Class Act: Kalamazoo's lesson: Educate and they will come
By JEFF BENNETT
July 28, 2008; Page R1
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121676435398175079.html

Civics Lesson: Kalamazoo, Mich., Pegs Revitalization On a Tuition Plan; Promise of College Funding Stokes Housing Demand, But Will Jobs Come, Too?; 'Totally Awesome,' a Teen Says
BY NEAL E. BOUDETTE
March 10, 2006: A.1
KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Last year, Greg DeHaan and his partner built 189 homes in the leafy, middle-class suburbs ringing this downtrodden industrial city, but not one in Kalamazoo itself. "There was no demand," says Mr. DeHaan, whose company, Allen Edwin Homes, is one of the largest home builders in Michigan. By early December, however, a market had suddenly materialized, prompting the developer to pay $7 million for three separate tracts of land. Out-of-state investors began scouring the area for opportunities, too. Mr. DeHaan and others in town trace this new interest in Kalamazoo to ...

The Oregonian

A 'promise' for our high school grads?
July 7, 2008
If cities across the nation, from Boston to Denver, are smart enough to see the economic potential of the Kalamazoo Promise, and to build versions of their own, you would think Michigan would get more serious about spreading the concept around this state.
http://www.oregonlive.com/commentary/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/editorial/1215131124286350.xml&coll=7

Cleveland.com

Ohioans study Kalamazoo Promise program of guaranteed college scholarships
By Edith Starzyk
July 6, 2008
Ohio could be the next land of Promise for students who need extra money and other support to earn a college degree.
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/07/hioans_study_kalamazoo_promise.html

USA Today

Free-college programs multiply
July 1, 2008, p. 1
By Mary Beth Marklein
A scholarship program that offers free college tuition as a reward for attending public schools in a Michigan city is catching on in other communities seeking to revitalize their urban centers.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-07-01-Kalamazoo_N.htm

'Promise' energizes hurting Michigan commmunity
July 1, 2008, p. 3
By Mary Beth Marklein
A bout 200 people from 75 communities across the country, including Portland, recently traveled to Kalamazoo, Mich., for something called the PromiseNet Conference, to learn about that city's newest economic development initiative, scholarships for all of its high school graduates.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-07-01-kalamazoo-inside_N.htm

The Economist

A promising future: Will an imaginative new approach to economic development work?
February 7, 2008
KALAMAZOO, a medium-sized post-industrial city in Michigan, shares the problems of countless such others across America. Its population is shrinking and its poverty rate hovers around 30%. But in November 2005 it received good news: in an effort to revitalise the city, anonymous donors would pay the college tuition fees of every graduate from Kalamazoo's public schools.

New York Times

DEVELOPMENT; Growing a City, From the Roots Up
November 13, 2006, F.34
BY KEITH SCHNEIDER
DISPLAYING ABSTRACT - When economists and civic leaders discuss ideas to revive this state, the talk quickly converges on the need to increase the number of high school students who continue their education and graduate from college. Nowhere else in Michigan, and perhaps in the rest of the country, has that goal ...

Washington Post

Tuition for Students, a Better Future for Their City
May 29, 2006: A.02
BY KARI LYDERSEN
Locals hope that Promise participants will return to Kalamazoo after college graduation, drawn by jobs and opportunities created through ripple effects of the program. "If the jobs are here, then local businesses through internships and partnerships can pluck our best kids," said Bob Jorth, the sole staff administrator of the Promise.

The program comes when Kalamazoo has been trying various strategies for revitalization. Three years ago a public-private partnership to stimulate creation of biotech companies was launched, spurred by Pfizer's partial pullout from its Kalamazoo facilities. Rather than accepting transfers out of the area, many scientists elected to stay in Kalamazoo and start their own companies.

Seniors Lacy Petersen and her boyfriend, Sean Wallace, decided to use Promise tuition to attend Kendall College of Art and Design in Big Rapids instead of art school in Ohio. "Now they can use other scholarships they have for room and board and art supplies," said Lacy's mother, Patti Petersen, secretary to Kalamazoo Central High Principal Carl Myles. "Lacy would have gone to college anyway, but for lots of other students this will make the difference of going to college or not."

Los Angeles Times

Can-do in Kalamazoo; Anonymous benefactors are helping to reshape the Michigan city's schools and revive its fortunes
December 18, 2006: A.20
Economically, the offer has had a discernible effect on real estate. According to reports in the Kalamazoo Gazette, real estate sales and prices are up in the district, while they've suffered in surrounding areas. Houses that go on the market generally sport two signs -- one the agent's usual marker and another noting that the house qualifies for the Kalamazoo Promise. New residential developments are planned, targeted to families drawn by the offer.

Detroit News

For Kalamazoo grads, future is promising
June 8, 2006: B.1
BY MARISA SCHULTZ
"I didn't want to go to college," said Zander Brezinsky, a Kalamazoo Central senior. "It wasn't about money. I just didn't know what I wanted to do." Then the Promise came along and he enrolled at Western.

Two out of three elementary students receive free or discounted meals because their family is considered low-income, defined as less than $37,000 for a family of four. Kalamazoo students' test scores lag behind the rest of the state. Just 62 percent of KPS fourth-graders passed the MEAP test for math, compared to 82 percent statewide in fall 2005. "The question is not what can KPS do to get students ready for the Kalamazoo Promise," said Janice Brown, superintendent of Kalamazoo Public Schools. "The question is what can the greater community do to get everyone ready for the Kalamazoo Promise."

"It's like having good health insurance," [Tim Tyler] said. "It's one of the most exciting and the most dramatic (gifts) that any community could ever have," Tyler said. "It just adds to the longevity of our community."

Chicago Tribune

A promise rooted in education ; A donor renews hope for thousands of high school graduates in Kalamazoo by pledging to pay for college
April 2, 2006: 1.3
BY TIM JONES
Starting with the Class of 2006, Kalamazoo public school students will be eligible for scholarships to Michigan public colleges and universities thanks to an anonymous donor. Tuition benefits are graduated based on length of attendance in the Kalamazoo school system. Here's the breakdown:

Kalamazoo Gazette

A Series of Special Reports: It's a Promise
http://www.mlive.com/kzgazette/scholarship/

CBS Evening News

“Kalamazoo Promise” Delivers: Teacher Hatched A Plan For Free College Education For Everyone in Her District"
Feb, 5, 2007
Welcome to Kalamazoo, Michigan — America's unlikely educational promised land, thanks to "The Kalamazoo Promise." And Kalamazoo's patron saint of education is Superintendent Janice Brown, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric reports.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/02/05/eveningnews/main2436212.shtml

ABC World News

Free Tuition Fuels Kalamazoo Housing Boom
Unique Philanthropy Helps Revive Struggling Industrial Town
By DEAN REYNOLDS
KALAMAZOO, Mich., Sept. 6, 2006
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=2401834&page=1

CNN

Dobbs: No summer vacation for our failing schools
By Lou Dobbs
CNN
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/06/27/dobbs.june28/index.html

NPR

Donors Give Kalamazoo, Mich. Students a Shot at College
by Tracy Samilton
Morning Edition, November 25, 2005 - Over the last five years, Kalamazoo, Mich., has lost 20 percent of its manufacturing jobs. But now, many hope new life will be added to the fading town. For the next 12 years, anonymous donors are giving full college scholarships to students who maintain C averages. Michigan Radio's Tracy Samilton reports.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5027221&ft=1&f=1013

In Kalamazoo, a Promise Boosts School Enrollment
Morning Edition, November 29, 2006 - by Kaomi Goetz
http://www.npr.org/templates/dmg/dmg_wmref.php?prgCode=ME&showDate=29-Nov-2006&segNum=17&mediaPref=
WM&sauid=U272801741164808489857&getUnderwriting=1