The Future of Bright Futures
Our Story
Bright Futures has been a successful program for Park City’s first-generation students helping them in their journey from 10th grade through college graduation – a minimum of seven years! Our staff and volunteers dedicate approximately 100 hours per month to this program. We mentor, fundraise, educate, donate and genuinely care for these kids. We know the current BF program works exceptionally well.
College persistence and completion rates for BF students are 85% as compared to the national average of 17% for first generation college students.
(Indicators of Higher Education in the United States. The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education. 2022.)
The Park City Education Foundation wants to dismantle the current Bright Futures Program.
Bright Futures three areas of concern:
ONE:
The PCEF staff are now proposing a wholesale redesign of the BF program without any knowledge of how their proposed changes will impact student success rates.
TWO:
Donors have contributed over $3 million since the program’s inception. Using these monies for any purpose other than funding the BF program under its current specific mission would be viewed as PCEF acting in bad faith by the Founders and other donors who have restricted their gifts to BF.
THREE:
To date, PCEF staff have not demonstrated a clear understanding of the needs of the program nor the complexities of the initiatives that comprise the program and are integral to its success.
Bright Futures Ask
Do not replace a program that has so effectively served the students of the Park City School District with a new, unproven structure, just to force it into PCEF’s fund-raising/grant-making model. The Bright Future Founders are ready and willing to govern and operate a Bright Futures that is independent of PCEF and PCSD. We would form, design, and operate this independent BF to minimize any disruption to PCEF staff and its financials.
Below are the supporters of running the Bright Futures program as it was originally intended. If necessary, the BF program should be run outside of the Park City Education Foundation.
Tommy Tanzer
Eric Garen
John Wendelokowski
Ernest Oriente
Rick and Lynn Bleil
Whitney Olch
Rebeca Gonzales
Franklin Morton
Tina Goette
Moe Hickey
Nicole Blumin
Stacey Sayer
In January 2025 we sent a letter expressing our concerns to Park City Education Foundation.
2024 Bright Future 10th Anniversary Celebration
Disclaimer: The idea and substance of this website are fully the responsibility of Tommy Tanzer. None of the supporters, founders, staff members or advisory board members had any input, decision making about or responsibility for the wording, content or focus of this site. – Tommy Tanzer