It gives our city a unifying message—we all believe our students should have more opportunities that lead to college and/or career readiness. All students deserve an environment that cultivates and fosters their greatest aspirations. Further, the Promise highlights the relationship between education and economic competitiveness. This is a bellwether of emerging cities. We will look to city and industry leadership to help us promulgate this message.
Yes, it is a new initiative that connects several existing programs for a more cohesive impact on the Greater Baton Rouge area. Each of the involved institutions have initiatives to increase college readiness and/or develop critical skills for our workforce. The Promise allows individual institutions to align these efforts to an overall mission.
The Promise articulates our community’s broad aspirations. Citizens have long called for progress in the areas of education and workforce development. The Promise is a new vehicle to monitor our collective responsibility for Baton Rouge’s future. We welcome stakeholders from all sectors to join us. This is a community-wide effort.
There are five (5) elements of the Promise: promoting early childhood education, college tours for all middle school students, summer internships for youth, a pledge by students and parents, and guaranteed admission to a post-secondary or technical education. Additionally, we have agreed to ten (10) goals to measure progress. The Capital Area Promise’s progress will be facilitated and monitored by five (5) Work Groups: Credentials and Curriculum, Early Childhood, Affordability and Access, Data Reporting and Analytics; and Communications and Public Relations.
Education leaders have committed to issuing an annual “report card” to update the community on progress-to-date. We will also provide updates on this website.
The Promise is truly a collaborative effort. The primary partners are LSU, Southern University, Baton Rouge Community College, EBR School System, and the Mayor’s Office. However, we will partner with the Louisiana Department of Education, Louisiana Workforce Commission, Louisiana Board of Regents, other local school districts, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, and many others. Again, we welcome stakeholders from all sectors to join us. LSU, through its Office of Community University Partnerships, will serve as lead facilitator.
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