KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — The Kalamazoo Promise and the new Foundation for Excellence maybe Kalamazoo’s answer to Michigan’s broken municipal financing system, but one expert says it’s not the wave of the future or even a good model for other communities to follow.
Former State Treasurer Robert Kleine most cities couldn’t pull it off even if they wanted to. They don’t have the resources that Kalamazoo has.
The Kalamazoo Promise is funded by several unidentified benefactors. In a report delivered to the Board of Trustees last week, the Scholarship program had spent nearly $97-million so far, funding college tuition for Kalamazoo High School grads.
The initial $70-million for the Foundation for Excellence is starter money for the eventual creation of a much larger trust fund to continue funding into the future.
Kleine says if Lansing had its priorities straight, and gave cities and schools the revenue sharing and tools to finance themselves, than charity wouldn’t be necessary.
The problem is there is no way to duplicate it in the hundreds of other Michigan Communities that face their own but similar funding pressures.
Kleine was on a League of Women Voter’s panel to discuss the topic of philanthropy and public finance at the Kalamazoo Public Library Monday evening.
Kalamazoo Schools Superintendent Michael Rice and Kalamazoo City Manager Jim Ritsema also appeared on the panel.
