Free Republic

... Yet city leaders have found the benefits of the Kalamazoo Promise, as the free college plan is known, go only so far. Just 38% of students who finished high school between 2006 and 2012 earned a college degree or certificate, according to the Upjohn Institute, a nonprofit research center that has studied the program. This was up only slightly from the 34% average for the three years before the program existed. Among black students, just 23% from the classes of 2006 through 2012 earned a college credential, compared with 22% before the program. The percentage of Kalamazoo residents living...

Pfizer layoffs detailed furtherFriday, September 26, 2003BY AL JONESKALAMAZOO GAZETTE Jobs in research and development accounted for all but about two dozen of the 459 positions Pfizer Inc. is eliminating in downtown Kalamazoo. And a company spokesman said the job losses in the city of Portage, set at 329 to date, will eventually reach at least 500. "We have said all along, there will be more separations (layoffs)," company spokesman Rick Chambers said. "And, yes, we have been keeping a constant dialogue with the city of Portage and all affected community officials." According to a breakdown of the jobs affected...