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Thursday, January 31, 2008

Davenport Promise...

I do believe the Davenport Promise is a great idea THEORETICALLY. I don't agree with the funding proposal at this time however. There are some questions that I need to see answered. Questions like: What are they showing as the projections for the increasing cost of education? Would the L.O.S.T. even be enough to make sure this is a long term program? Is there a way, like the U promise company, that we can obtain funds from companies not from the QCA? If the Davenport School system does get the influx of students they are expecting, then there is an increase in funding provided from the state. What is their long term goal for this money? What happens if the current L.O.S.T. is not enough? Is it possible to make it a forgivable loan instead? Say after graduation, being asked to live in Davenport for five years, upon which the loan is forgiven. Iowa currently has something similar with interest rates being fixed at a favorable rate for first time homebuyers. I think this might help prevent the brain drain that Iowa is currently experiencing. These and other questions are why I am in support of putting together a commision to iron out details to make this a success. What questions do you have?

7 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm glad to see this being given serious consideration. We need to get this done, because someday, we may not have a choice. Peoria, IL already has a 2 year "promise" program. It's a matter of time before Bettendorf, Moline, Rock Island, Silvis or East Moline get a program going. Then we'll learn real fast about the benefits of the program, and about the pain of being a nearby community WITHOUT a program.

Everyone's first choice is to fund this privately. If that can't happen (it's a tall order, to be sure), then some kind of public-private partnership may be needed. Let's not forget that the private sector is also going to benefit from the program.

Donations can be made to the Davenport Promise by going here. Make sure to select "Davenport Promise" as the purpose of the donation. If the Promise never comes to fruition, the money donated will be pooled and given as a scholarship to Davenport students.

Anonymous said...

How much staff time are you going to invest in this.

Anonymous said...

Ultimately there will have to be some staff involvement. We do have to see where this takes us. As a potential economic development tool, anything that may help grow the tax base and lessen taxes should be investigated. We are looking at all possibilities and alternatives to try a grow the city.

Anonymous said...

Here is an idea - how about spending more $$ on enforcing our codes and cleaning up the West end. Now there is an economic development tool.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the suggestion, if you can provide something more specific than an anonymous vague comlaint, it would be appreciated. I have been recieving calls about issues and we are trying to confront them in a timely fashion.

Anonymous said...

I do not approve of any tax payer funds for this program. We are currently taxed to death!!

One major problem will be that too much will be spent for college only kids. Most should be spent on vocational trainning which would impact more kids with the same amount of funds. Or get the schools back into vocational education that they have let fall by the way side in favor of education of college bound students only....

Anonymous said...

When you look into this you can see that we are not going to be taxed anymore than we already are. The state is now providing Davenport with more funds for roads and construction freeing up new funds to begin this Promise program. When looking at a lot of our community I would have so say that increasing the interest in going to school (by implementing this promise) can only benefit our community. Parents would become more involved with the volunteer requirement that it has along with more families showing an interest in our community as well. We need to help our youth. We can help the lower parts of our community by giving them some hope for college and getting them actively engaged in volunteering in our city. It is typical that our council members would want the money to spend on the city rather than on our youth. Invest in our future the right way.

The first requisite of a good citizen in this republic of ours is that he shall be able and willing to pull his weight - Theodore Roosevelt