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Democratic National Convention
Kalamazoo Promise: College is a free ride
School attendance is the way to pay for higher education, and parents are drawn to it.
Monday, September 25, 2006
DAYTON — Steward Sandstrom moved to Kalamazoo, Mich., for the Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
For a man accustomed to tossing his extra money into savings accounts for a first-grader and 15-month-old, the free college educations that Kalamzoo offers allows Sandstrom to pursue another dream.
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"Now I might be able to buy a Harley. I won't have to spend it on tuition," he said.
Grassroots Greater Dayton, an anti-sprawl group, hopes its version of the Kalamazoo Promise will have a similar effect — drawing smart, education-minded parents to breathe new life into a city in economic decline.
Five anonymous individuals there contributed millions to turn the city into "promise land," as some newbies call it — a place where all public school district graduates are guaranteed a free education at any state college.
Grassroots Greater Dayton hopes to raise enough for its own promise — up to $20,000 for Dayton school district residents who graduate from any public or private high schools to attend one of 10 local colleges.
Sandstrom, who left Iowa to become the president of the Kalamazoo Chamber of Commerce, said the Promise is brilliant.
"Work force is the most critical need of towns this size in the Midwest," he said of the city of 72,700 people. "What an effective work force development tool this community has. And think of what it says about the way community leaders invested in the community."
When Jack, his first-grade son, is about 13, Sandstrom wants to roll up the driveway on the Harley of his dreams.
"That would be just at the point when words like 'cool' and 'dad' don't go together anymore," he said. "I hope for maybe a week those words can come back together."
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2485 or
selliott@DaytonDailyNews.com.
