Commentary on Plainfield Promise

Mayor Adrian O. Mapp's mention Wednesday of a proposal to increase college attendance has raised questions about how it would work.

From his 2017 State of the City Address:

I believe that if every single person had the benefit of a good education there would be ninety percent less crime in the world and I want to do my part to make that happen.

Studies have shown that children who are exposed to financial literacy at an early age grow up to practice sound money management later on and are more likely to be solid achievers.

With this in mind, Plainfield Promise has as one of its goals to establish a bank account with an amount of money (up to five hundred dollars), for every single child starting school in the City of Plainfield. 

You have to sow the seeds today if you want to reap the rewards tomorrow, and this is about changing outcomes for generations.

 The other component of Plainfield Promise throws out a challenge to every high school student in Plainfield. 

If you complete high school and qualify to go to college but cannot afford to do so, we will pay for you to attend Union County College. And if there’s a child who’s more interested in learning a trade than going to a traditional college, we’ll also provide assistance for them to pursue their dreams.

Plainfield Promise will provide funding to assist our young people who have worked hard and deserve the opportunity to explore their full potential; this is the future of Plainfield; this is how we begin to transform the landscape of opportunity and re-create our city. 

Education expands the mind; education fights hatred, education provides opportunities, education opens doors. It elevates and paves the way for change that affects generation after generation. Plainfield Promise will be funded from several sources, the details of which we will share as soon as the logistics are worked out and the program is ready to launch. 

I emailed the following questions to the mayor:

Could you explain the funding mechanism for Plainfield Promise? What would the source be? How would it be administered? Is there any current model in another municipality?

His reply:

We are not ready to release that information as yet. The program is modeled after the Oakland Promise.

That led me to look up Oakland Promise. I found out it is still in early stages, has a broad base of funding commitments ranging from private individuals to foundations and including municipal and school system contributions.

If the program is accurately described, it seems to show a much greater agreement on the need for this particular kind of help and an acceptance of the responsibility to carry it out than may currently exist in Plainfield, where class and race distinctions are frequently invoked. Many taxpayers here may be less inclined to feel they are their brothers' keeper because they are fighting for economic survival themselves.

In addition, Plainfield's educational funding is based on an assumption of high poverty levels here. As one of the 30 poorest districts, Plainfield is said to have an 80/20 percent ratio of outside funding to local taxes raised in support of schools. Accepting the designation of neediness seems to preclude the ability to "do for self" that appears to be implicit in Plainfield Promise. 

The mayor began announcing Plainfield Promise as far back as September 2016 on his blog. By talking about it in the State of the City Address, he is raising expectations as well as concerns that must be addressed sooner rather than later.

--Bernice