New Report: Will Dallas County Children Grow Up to Thrive?

As the founding Chairman and CEO of the Commit Partnership, it’s been my honor and privilege to work alongside numerous innovative, student-centered leaders within our public school and higher education institutions here in Dallas County and across the state. But my belief in the power of public education stretches back much further than the thirteen years since Commit’s founding.

I was once a Dallas ISD student, often walking from our small rental home near the border of Mesquite to Bryan Adams High School, where strong teachers such as Ms. Peterson and Ms. Wilbanks prepared me to graduate ready for a postsecondary education. From there I enrolled and graduated from Austin College, which I attended on 99% financial aid and was inspired by great instructors such as Dan Nuckols, who still teaches and mentors students at Austin College today.

That's why I am so passionate about this work: access to a high-quality, well-supported path to a postsecondary degree completely transformed my family’s economic trajectory. Every child, regardless of neighborhood or family income, deserves the same opportunities that both I and my children had.

The good news is that our public school students, 3 in 4 of whom are considered economically disadvantaged, are now being offered more opportunities, in greater abundance, than ever before. Our school districts are increasingly embracing their role as their community’s chief engine of economic mobility, providing more and more students with career certificates and associate degrees while in high school. Dallas College is also collaborating with both PK-12 systems and local universities to make the transition to and through postsecondary education as seamless as possible. Finally, our employers and community leaders are as engaged as I have ever seen them.

But as this report indicates, there is still a great deal of work to be done. It provides an in-depth view into a sobering truth: far too many of our young people are still unable to earn a wage with which they can support themselves and their families. It will take even more cross-sector collaboration and support to ensure all our students are provided with pathways to the credentials that are increasingly necessary for full participation in the 21^st century economy.

Commit’s true north goal is to ensure at least half of Dallas County residents aged 25-34 earn a living wage by 2040, irrespective of race. It is a big, ambitious goal, considering that currently less than a third of our young people meet our living wage threshold (which is adjusted annually for inflation). In particular, closing the stark, pernicious gaps in economic opportunity so often based on race, place and family income will take a concerted effort by all of us if we truly want the American Dream to be accessible for all.

But in Dallas, we do big things and don’t shy away from large challenges. The legacy of D Magazine, turning 50 this year, is one example. The hard work of our educators and school leaders over generations is another. By finding new ways to come together in support of this common goal, we can not only create a brighter future for the children growing up within our community today, we can also provide an example to the rest of the country for how to be incredibly intentional about ensuring that economic opportunity is shared equally rather than predicted by race, place or family socioeconomic status.

By engaging with this report (and the others we’ll be releasing in collaboration with D over the course of this school year) you are participating in that effort. Thank you for reading and learning more. I hope you won’t stop there.

-Todd Williams