Shared Prosperity Kalamazoo: Basic Principles and Proposed Strategy

Shared Prosperity Kalamazoo:

Basic Principles and Proposed Strategy

Tim Ready* and Don Cooney**

Kalamazoo City Commission Meeting

April 14, 2014

* Director of the WMU Lewis Walker Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnic Relations and Associate

Professor of Sociology

The Challenge

Why Kalamazoo Needs a Well-Coordinated

Strategy

Poverty Rate for Individuals: 2000 and 2008-12

24

12

7

8

10

34

19

13

17

16

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

city

county

Out-county

Michigan

USA

2000

2008-12

City’s Poverty Rates* and

Poverty Percentile Ranking Among All US Cities:

Total, and by Race/Ethnicity

Percent of

City

Residents

in Poverty

National Percentile Rank for Poverty

All Persons

37% (30%**)

98

th

Percentile (83

rd**

)

White

32%

99

th

Percentile

Black

52%

97

th

Percentile

Hispanic

40%

91

st

Percentile

• American Community Survey, 2009-11

** Note that the poverty rate for all persons in the city of Kalamazoo is nearly seven percentage points higher than it would otherwise be because of the presence of college students. If college students were excluded, we estimate that the poverty ranking for Kalamazoo would be at about the 83rd _{percentile among US cities of at least 65,000 residents.}

Hispanic, 2,131, 9% White, 13,338, 55% Black, 7,208, 30% Other, 1,529, 6%

Race/Ethnicity of Persons in Poverty in City of

Kalamazoo, 2010-12

Child Poverty in Kalamazoo:*

Percentile Ranking among All US Cities

with at Least 65,000 People

% Poor National Percentile Rank for Poverty

All Children:

46%

96

th

Percentile

White Children

33%

95

th

Percentile

Black Children

64% 93

rd

Percentile

Hispanic Children 43% 79

th

Percentile

Children in Poverty, City of Kalamazoo, 2010-12

Total number of children in poverty: 6,345

Hispanic, 853 14% White, 1798 28% Black, 3,302 52% Other 392 6%

Child Poverty as Related to the

American Ideal of Equal Opportunity for All

Source:

Greg Duncan,

Stanford University

Pathways, winter, 2011

The Cost of Doing Nothing…

Not Making Good on The Promise

•

The Kalamazoo Promise is a Unique and Important Asset to

Promote Shared Prosperity

•

It Has Proven to Make a Difference for Many by Making

College Affordable

BUT

•

Will Our Children Be Prepared to Take Advantage of The

Promise If They and Their Families Are Struggling with the

Effects of Poverty?

Child Development and Schooling

•

Poverty, Especially in Early Childhood, Profoundly Affects a

Child’s Chances for Healthy Growth, Development and Learning

•

Studies Consistently Show that Family and Neighborhood

Poverty Have a Far Greater Impact on Learning than How Good

Teachers and School Administrators Are

•

Good Schools Can and Do Make a Difference, and We Must

Support Our Schools in Every Way We Can…

•

…But It Take a Community To Raise a Child – Schools Can’t Do It

Top to Bottom Ranking of Kalamazoo County Public Schools by

Percentage of Economically Disadvantaged Students, 2013

In Percent Percentile Ranking

among All Michigan Schools

The percentage of economically disadvantaged students in a school accounts for 76 percent of the variation among the county’s 64 public schools in the Michigan Department of Education’s 2013 Top-to-Bottom Ranking of public schools.

R2 _{= .760}

* In 21 of 65 County Public Schools, at least two-thirds (66%) of students are

economically disadvantaged.

* 17 of these 21 schools are KPS schools; the remaining 4 are in Comstock.

* All 21 schools are below the 30th _percentile

in the Michigan State Dept. of Education’s Top-to Bottom Ranking; 18 were below the 20th _{percentile, and; 12 were at or below}

High Poverty Neighborhoods

•

Concentrated Poverty (not just individual and family

poverty):

–

Is hazardous to our health

–

Undermines education outcomes

–

Increases the risk of involvement in criminal justice system

•

12 of 25 Kalamazoo Census Tracts Have Concentrated

Poverty (At Least 30 Percent of Residents in Poverty)

Continuum from Ninth Grade Cohort of 2007 to Post-Secondary Degree

Completion, as of December, 2013

325 382 68 274 258 47 240 219 45 219 185 31 121 44 12 108 23 10 0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450

White Black Other

Ninth Grade Cohort HS Grads

Promise Eligible Promise Users Any PS Credential Bachelor's Degree

Percent of 9

th

Grade Cohort for Kalamazoo Public School’s Graduating

Class of 2007 that Attained a Post-Secondary Degree within Six Years, by

Race, Ethnicity

11% 37% 18% 23% 6% 33% 15% 18% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

Black White Other Total

Twelve of the 25 Census Tracts in the

City Have Concentrated Poverty

(poverty rate of at least 30 percent)

Percent of All Persons in poverty Tract 1 48% Tract 15.06 40% Tract 2.01 34% Tract 15.07 58% Tract 2.02 46% Tract 16.01 15% Tract 3 45% Tract 16.03 22% Tract 5 37% Tract 16.04 27% Tract 6 50% Tract 17.01 18% Tract 9 58% Tract 17.02 30% Tract 10 47% Tract 18.01 12% Tract 11 26% Tract 18.02 19% Tract 12 3% Tract 55.01 11% Tract 13 17% Tract 15.01 16% Tract 15.02 23% Tract 15.03 14% Tract 15.04 76%

The Increase in Poverty in the City Is Not

Confined to Only a Few Neighborhoods…

•

Between 2000 and 2008-12,

–

Poverty Increased in All But One of the City’s 25 Census

Tracts

–

The Number of Census Tracts with Concentrated Poverty

(greater than 30 percent) increased from 9 to 12

Poverty Rate for Individuals in Kalamazoo Census Tracts,

2000 and 2008-12

30 38 43 35 35 42 36 22 24 4 15 57 20 45 12 ₁₁ 8 8 14 11 9 48 34 46 ₄₅ 37 50 58 47 26 3 11 76 40 58 15 22 27 18 30 12 19

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

2000

2008-12

Percent

Percent of Children in Poverty for City Census Tracts,

2000 and 2008-12

30.1 37.7 43.2 34.8 35.1 41.5 35.8 21.8 23.9 4 14.6 57.1 20.4 45.3 12 10.5 7.5 7.8 13.9 11 9.4 65 36 81 53 36 54 64 67 30 2 9 80 9 66 36 _{34 35} 18 40 17 24 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Tract

1 Tract2.01 Tract2.02 Tract3 Tract5 Tract6 Tract9 Tract10 Tract11 Tract12 14.01Tract 15.04Tract 15.06Tract 15.07Tract 16.01Tract16.03Tract 16.04Tract 17.01Tract 17.02Tract 18.01Tract 18.02Tract

More Broadly Shared Prosperity

KUSP Core Objectives

–

Involve low income residents

as full participants in the planning

and evaluation process

–

Involve Community-based Organizations to

move beyond

disjointed delivery of categorical services to better meet people’s

needs!

–

Engage private sector employers as full partners in

job creation

and job training

, because the goal of more broadly shared

prosperity makes sense for business, besides being the right thing

to do

Core Objectives (continued)

•

Strategically

Focus the Considerable Resources of Our Community

on the

Goal of Shared Prosperity

•

Make Sure that

Low Income Residents Are at the Table

and an Integral

Part of the Process

•

Plan and Structure Must Be

Appropriate to Kalamazoo’s Decentralized

Network of Community Assets

KUSP Core Strategies

•

Community indicator system

to establish baseline information and

measure progress toward goals, similar to The Coordinating Council of

Calhoun County. Data should be both county-wide and specific to the

city of Kalamazoo, where poverty is most concentrated

•

Draw on the collective wisdom of the Kalamazoo community,

including

its elected and appointed public officials, nonprofit leaders and

grassroots citizens

•

KUSP strategies also should be

informed by research on best practices

Strategic Doing

•

Provides the Methodology (doing agenda) for the

Proposed Organizational Structure of Kalamazoo

United for Shared Prosperity

•

Strategic Doing Combines Effective and Visionary Civic

Kalamazoo United for Shared Prosperity:

Proposed Organizational Structure

•

The specific organizational structure we propose is

outlined in coming slides.

HOWEVER

•

The specifics of the proposed structure are of less

importance than achieving core objectives and