Educators Discuss How to Close Dallas' Racial, Income Gaps During SMU Conference

Dallas has had several economic successes in recent years, but it continues to remain one of the most segregated cities in the nation with a poverty rate that is up 40 percent from 15 years ago. A key to battling the city's rising poverty, said Theresa O'Donnell, chief resilience officer for the city of Dallas, is to provide residents with a strong educational system. "We believe as Americans that education is the way to wealth. It's the way to bettering yourself and your family," she said during a conference on race and equity Friday at the George W. Bush Presidential Center. "And for a city's perspective, if it's not working for a neighborhood, how is that neighborhood that's concentrated in poverty and the children of that neighborhood going to climb out of the poverty they were born into?"O'Donnell addressed educators about the importance of finding solutions to break the cycle of poverty and improve income equity in Dallas.   Continue reading...