Racine is among 10 cities chosen to pilot a national economic mobility initiative funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Ballmer Group.
The city will participate in the $12 million national initiative aimed at identifying, piloting and measuring the success of interventions to accelerate economic mobility, Mayor Cory Mason and the funding partners announced Tuesday.
Over the next 18 months, Racine will partner with several organizations to help residents attain their high school equivalency diploma. Currently, the city has more than 9,000 residents who do not have a high school diploma or equivalency, which presents a barrier for gaining employment, going to college or pursuing other training and apprenticeships.
Partners in the effort include the Racine Unified School District, Gateway Technical College, the YWCA of Southeast Wisconsin, Racine County and Higher Expectations for Racine County.
“As mayor, I want to break down barriers that prevent our residents from getting into the middle class,” Mason said. “I am proud of the partnerships we have created around workforce training and pre-apprenticeship, but as a prerequisite for many of the training, college, and job opportunities that exist, we know you need a high school diploma or equivalency,.”
Racine will also work with other cities participating in the initiative to share their lessons and experiences. Other participating cities include: Albuquerque, Cincinnati, Dayton, Detroit, Lansing, New Orleans, Newark, Rochester and Tulsa.
One of the initiative’s goals is to scale up an existing 5.09 HSED programs run by the YWCA of Southeast Wisconsin in collaboration with Racine County and Gateway Technical College. The city and RUSD also plan to bring a HSED program to its community schools. RUSD has one existing community school and plans to open its second in the fall.
City staff has also begun working with a team of advisors from Results for America and the Behavioral Insights Team, both partners in Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Works Cities initiative, which works to enhance cities’ use of data and evidence.
Opportunity Insights, based at Harvard University, is also helping Racine staff draw insights related to economic mobility in the community using data.
