The Promise

I am happy to report something so amazing that I am still sorting through all the many benefits. I am in a state of total amazement. The news has been reported on CNN, NPR, the internet, all over. It has set my hometown abuzz, and many institutions of higher learning in my home state have praised the proposition. I simply can’t believe it.

Ok, so here’s the deal…

…an anonymous donation was recently made to the Public Schools in my hometown (if you know me, then you know what city I speak of); a really big donation at that. For the next 13 years anyone that graduates from my city’s Public High School’s will get a Full ride scholarship to any Public College or University in my home state of Michigan.

That’s right, just graduate with a 2.0 (the graduation requirement) and you get a guaranteed Full ride Scholarship to a Public University, no questions asked.

Simply remarkable!

Here’s a lil Maelstrom Hometown history. My hometown was founded by Titus Bronson in 1830. It was initially called Bronson, Michigan, but was later changed to honor the Native Americans that previously settled the land there. Its name comes from a Potawatomi Indian term that means “boiling water”; so-named because of the river that runs through it.

Many major businesses found their home there, including the famous Checkered Cab company (that made Taxi’s for major cities such as New York), the James River paper company (which utilized the river and the vast number of trees in the area to form a major United States paper company), First of America Bank, Gilmore’s (a Department Store) and the UpJohn Company (a major Pharmaceutical Company). Also centered there or in the area were Eaton, Stryker, Perrigo (the #1 generic Pharmaceutical Company in America), and a Georgia Pacific plant, to name a few.

Unfortunately most of these companies suffered through hard times and by the 1990’s had either been bought out by companies that weren’t located in the area, or had to cut hundreds of area jobs.

The UpJohn Company was bought by a European Pharmaceutical company called Pharmacia, which was then subsequently bought by Ann Arbor, MI based Pfizer (the world’s largest Pharmaceutical Company). Many of its jobs were cut or shipped to New Jersey. First of America was taken over by Cleveland, OH based National City. And Gilmore’s, Georgia Pacific, and the James River paper company all ceased to exist. Several other local businesses closed or were forced to cut jobs as well.

After all the job losses and business buy-outs, my personal fear was that the place would end up like its northeastern Michigan neighbor Flint, or southwestern Michigan neighbor Benton Harbor. Both of these towns at one time had thriving economies and viable businesses which severely crippled the cities when they pulled out (as was documented by Michael Moore in the film “Roger and Me” for the city of Flint). And the only thing that truly kept any life in my hometown area for the last 10 years or so were the Colleges (one of which had to close) and the University.

The area needed something to revitalize it. In recent years many revitalization attempts have been made (and are ongoing), but I am 100% confident that this will do the trick. Improving the Public Schools will improve the economy for the whole region.

Why only Public School students and why only Public Colleges, one might ask! Well, Michigan once had a Governor (John Engler of the last GW Bush administration) who didn’t believe in Public education and literally destroyed it in so many ways from top to bottom. Furthermore, Public Schools are arguably the basis of a middle-class community. And undoubtedly, the Private Schools in my hometown were largely separatist and elitist at best. But now I bet that even some of those Private School students’ parents are having second thoughts about where they want to send their kids.

“But are the Public Colleges in the State even that reputable,” one might ask.

Well, Michigan isn’t just another State in the Union with respect to higher education. There are a handful of World-renown Universities including Wayne State, Western Michigan, Ferris State, Eastern Michigan, Grand Valley State (whose football team just won their 3^rd National Title in 4 years in Div. 2) and Central Michigan. And probably more significant is the presence of Michigan State University as well as the University of Michigan (which is often in the top 3 in the nation as far as student enrollment expenses are concerned).

In all there are some 15 public Colleges and Universities in the State of Michigan, and each of them is accredited and well respected. Indeed, the University of Michigan is often ranked in the top 25 overall and in the top 3 public schools in the nation for overall curriculum.

So a decree, like the one that has been handed down to my Hometown, is not just a blasé occurrence. It really means that you have an opportunity at not just a free higher education, but a free and credible education.

Now consider all the advantages. I envision a glorious snowball effect that can only mean good things for the community. Consider, now that parents realize their children will go to school for free by just graduating, they have a huge incentive to stay in the area. Some of the families that live in nearby communities (many of whom moved from my hometown to the suburbs) will now move back into town simply because of The Promise.

As a result, businesses that were once in town and ailing would benefit from the steady (and potentially increasing) adult population. Outside businesses will be more willing to invest in the area because they know that there will be a strong number of potential workers as well as a consistent consumer base. Plus, what a bargaining chip. Imagine that you were a parent of two pre-teen children and you were offered a job in a place where your kids would for sure go to college for free. Sounds like a sweet deal to me.

Plus, parents will want their children not to just get a free higher education, but would want them to be well prepared for schooling post-high school. Therefore the parents would demand an increasingly more competent group of Public School teachers, faculty and administrators. Also, parents would pay more attention to their children's attendance in school as well as their grades.

The dropout rate should decrease, the concept of community would re-ignite (ie people will be more apt to confront children who are not in school when they should be), and the list of potential benefits goes on. This commitment will not only benefit the local area, but it will indeed benefit (to some extent) the crucially ailing Michigan economy overall.

Amazing!

Knowing the number of students that graduated with me, and knowing that the High School across town has about the same amount of students, I’ve estimated that whoever is responsible for this donation must have set aside about $500 million. The question around town is “who has that kind of money?” It’s apparent that there was a joint or maybe even group effort. I suspect that maybe the Gilmore’s and the UpJohn’s teamed up with the donation. Maybe local Professional Athletes Derek Jeter and TJ Duckett were in on it. Maybe it’s some random “outsider” just trying to make a point. Who knows? One thing I do know is that whoever did this is clearly aware of the advantages, and they have a foresight that this entire nation needs to get. Education is the cornerstone of a successful nation. When you focus on education everything else falls into place.

To that end, I am grateful for the many news outlets that have reported this. I first became aware of it one evening while watching CNN. Later I heard about it on NPR. Indeed several of my friends have informed me that they heard about a great educational donation for the Public Schools in my Hometown; one friend was in Florida when he heard about it.

Everyone in the nation should know about this because many more communities than just mine can make such a commitment to education. It doesn’t have to be 2 or 3 people; it could be a whole city collectively donating their money to the cause of making Public Education better. It will, I guarantee, make the whole community a better place to live.

Now, for those of you that thought I was out of my mind for always singing the praises of my city and saying that my hometown is the center of the world (and also the greatest metropolis in history…a megalopolis…yada yada yada)…whatcha gon’ say now???

-Maelstrom

PS: I forgot to mention that November 29^th was Don Cheadle’s 42^nd Birthday. Happy Belated Birthday Don!