Twelve years ago, our Partnership was established to address troubling academic and economic outcomes among young people in our region. Since then, we’ve been honored to work alongside educators, policymakers, philanthropists, business and community leaders as we strive to support and maximize student success. The challenges we face, such as intergenerational poverty, historic inequities, and the lingering effects of a global pandemic, are too immense for any one person or group to solve alone. But thankfully, through strong collaboration and guided by data, real progress is being made.
Our Partnership’s True North Goal is that by 2040, at least half of all 25- to 34-year-old residents of Dallas County, irrespective of race, will earn a living wage. In pursuit of this goal, we’ve partnered closely with Child Poverty Action Lab to develop Opportunity 2040, a comprehensive 18-year strategic plan to confront head-on the root causes precluding economic mobility for our students and families. (To learn more about Opportunity 2040, see pg. 12)
Each year we publish a Scorecard tracking the health of Dallas County’s educational ecosystem to measure our progress and identify areas to both celebrate and adjust strategies to accelerate growth. This year’s Scorecard features an expanded set of Opportunity 2040 Indicators, comprised of academic benchmarks proven by research to reflect the likelihood of living wage attainment. These metrics show that in Year 1 of the Plan, over 9,800 additional students were placed on a path to economic mobility through proficiency at key benchmarks. That's meaningful growth that helps keep all of us on track for reaching our ultimate goals of 38,000 and 150,000 additional students by 2028 and 2040, respectively. (See pg. 38 for the full Scorecard data)
Our committed educators and school leaders deserve the lion’s share of the credit for that growth as they increasingly realize their critical role as engines of economic mobility for their communities That's why we also established the Dallas County Economic Mobility Awards in 2024, celebrating those public school systems innovating the most to create opportunities for our students facing economic disadvantages to attain postsecondary credentials and earn livable wages. Our inaugural recipients included:
- Garland ISD, which leads the county in the percentage of students earning industry certifications.
- Dallas ISD, which awarded over 11% of its 2023 high school graduating class associate degrees in partnership with Dallas College.
- Uplift Education, whose young alumni ages 25-30 working in Texas are earning an average salary of over $69,000, the highest among Dallas County public school districts and charter networks that serve student populations which are primarily economically disadvantaged.
These are just a few examples of the transformative work in our county to enhance our students’ futures, and we’re excited to continue rewarding student-centered innovation in the years to come. (To learn more about the Economic Mobility Awards and the inaugural awardees, see pg. 24)
This work will take time, but helping realize the inherent potential of our young people is critical to both theirs' and our community’s future. By providing equal access to every opportunity, we can offer every student a path to success. Thank you for partnering with us in this critical work.
To learn more about the work that is being done, view our 2023 Dallas County scorecard below:
