Birmingham Promise

The Birmingham Promise Initiative is a program created by Birmingham mayor Randall Woodfin, and operated through the newly-created Birmingham Department of Innovation and Economic Opportunity, to provide business apprenticeships and college scholarships to Birmingham City Schools students.

Birmingham's program, developed by Deputy Director of Talent Development Rachel Harmon, is modeled largely on Buffalo, New York's "Buffalo Promise Neighborhood", which in the span of a decade has been successful in improving graduation rates and closing achievement gaps in that city's schools.

Such programs require large amounts of private investment from partnering businesses and charitable foundations. The initial implementation of Birmingham's program coincided with a reduction in the city's direct annual disbursement to the Birmingham Board of Education, from $3 million to $1 million in the 2020 Birmingham budget. In the program's "pilot" year, 2019, a total of 20 students were placed in paid summer internships. The "Fred Shuttlesworth Promise Scholarship" program has yet to be implemented.

References

• Koplowitz, Howard (March 21, 2019) "Woodfin gives update on progress of strategic plan for Birmingham." The Birmingham News
• Johnson, Roy S. (May 21, 2019) "Johnson: Woodfin’s education ‘promise’ may be most vital budget component, most difficult to fulfill." The Birmingham News