Putting some Teeth in the PROMISE!

Lawmaker seeks support for Promise Zone

Tuesday, March 17, 2009 5:47 AM EDT

By RANDAL YAKEY
Of The Oakland Press

PONTIAC — An opportunity for a partial or fully paid college education for students of the Pontiac school district is at hand.

Now, it’s up to the surrounding community to help them seize that opportunity.

State Rep. Tim Melton, D-Auburn Hills, told a community forum Monday at City Hall that all the kids who work hard and graduate will be eligible for part or all of their college education to be paid for through the Promise Zone program.

But it won’t be easy.

So, Melton has called upon businesses, educators and citizens to donate time and money to a cause that will benefit the entire Pontiac community.

“We need to tap into our faith-based community,” Melton said. We need to tap into our business community like The Palace of Auburn Hills.”

Melton said he believes the $750,000 to get the program started can be raised and that he has already been getting “generous donations,” but there is still much to be done.

The Michigan Promise Zone Act allows communities to create funding mechanisms to increase college education opportunities for graduates of Michigan’s K-12 school system by providing free college tuition to in-state schools.

Up to 10 Promise Zones will be authorized throughout the state in areas that have a combination of low rates of educational attainment and high rates of poverty and unemployment. Funds must be raised by the community for two years before a percentage of growth in state education tax dollars will be added to the pot to provide scholarships to Pontiac students.

Under the plan, the school board would create a Promise Zone Authority board and appoint nine of the 11 members. The other two would be appointed by the speaker of the House and the leader of the Senate majority. The authority would cover full tuition to any public school in Michigan and a capped amount to any more expensive private Michigan college.

“The business community will benefit because now you have a higher density of post secondary educated kids who they are able to hire,” said Melton. “People always ask me to bring jobs to our community. Well, who are they going to hire? Let’s make sure we are preparing our kids for the jobs in the new economy.”

The Promise Zone Authority board would set the criteria for the scholarships and would be responsible for raising money in the private sector to fund them. No school board members would be on the authority.

In the third year, after two years of fund raising, the state would authorize the district to keep a percentage of funds generated by property tax growth to put toward scholarships. Children in all the cities and townships in the district would benefit, not just those who live in Pontiac. And the fund would reap revenue from growth in property taxes from all the entities in the school district.

Pontiac school district graduates, whether low-income or not, will be eligible for funds that make up the difference between what a student can obtain in scholarships and grants and the full tuition at a public Michigan college or university or a similar capped amount for a private college.

FYI

Call Melton’s office at (888) MELTON-4 or e-mail timmelton@house.mi.gov.