Dallas Cowboys legend Darren Woodson is launching a group aimed at boosting charter schools in the Dallas area in a bid to improve public education and provide alternatives for Dallas’ children.
Woodson said Tuesday that his organization — the name of which has not yet been announced — is looking towards a formal launch this Fall. The group will serve as a Harbor Master, an organizational model prominent in other major cities in Texas and around the country. A Harbor Master seeks to be the focal point and driving force for opening charter schools in a region, connecting a wide swath of community stakeholders: established charter school operators, sources of capital, regulatory and zoning authorities, parents, teachers, and more.
The three-time Super Bowl champion and four-time First Team All-Pro safety made the announcement at an event hosted by the Metroplex Civic & Business Association at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek.
Woodson said he wants to focus on boosting charter schools because they set higher expectations for students regardless of their upbringing.
“I know my calling is to make a difference in education,” Woodson told attendees during his speech. “I’m ready for a fight. This is a hill I’m willing to die on.”
Charter schools are publicly funded institutions that run separately from the local independent school district. There are 140 public charter schools serving 66,567 students in Dallas County, according to Public School Review.
To get their child admitted into a charter school, parents must fill out an application. Entrants are then selected through a lottery process.
Woodson said he wants to encourage parents in low-income districts to give their children the opportunity to get the best education available through charter schools.
“Give them a chance,” Woodson told The Dallas Express. “Get to know your child and get to know what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are, and help them.”
The top five ranked public schools in Texas are all charter schools, according to Texas Education Agency (TEA) data, as well as 10 of the top 15.
Woodson was quick to point out that he was not speaking ill of traditional public schools, that he attended one himself, and he knows personally of the many hardworking teachers doing their best in less than ideal conditions.
He recounted to the audience how he was raised in the projects of Phoenix, Arizona, as the youngest of four children. He said he struggled to read in elementary school and was only able to catch up once he had a 6th grade public school teacher who committed extra hours to teach him before and after school.
Charter schools, Woodson noted, are designed to include the sort of individualized and specialized education he was lucky to have that year.
“It’s about leveling the playing field and having other opportunities,” Woodson told The Dallas Express. “If there was an opportunity for my mom, who raised four kids, to send us to a charter school, she’d do it in a heartbeat. Her number one goal was education.”
An analysis of TEA data conducted by The Dallas Express found that Dallas County has the worst student achievement scores among Texas’ top six big-city counties.
Woodson said he wants his lasting legacy to be not about football but about uplifting children.
“If I don’t get into the Hall of Fame, it is what it is. But watch me get these kids into college,” Woodson said to conclude his speech.