DALLAS (1080 KRLD)- The mayor of Dallas has named his "workforce development czar" to oversee the city's effort to improve residents' job skills. Eric Johnson says philanthropist and STEAM school network CEO Lynn McBee provides the best opportunity for "upskilling efforts" in Dallas.
Johnson says the southern part of Dallas accounts for 50% of the city's land area but just 15% of the tax base. Johnson says the city should shift from growing southern Dallas as a "real estate play" and instead think more about how to improve the lives and education of people who live there now.
Johnson says Dallas ISD has become one of the best urban districts in the country, but McBee's work will focus on helping current adults gain skills in fields that are growing and not at risk of automation.
"That's the entire ballgame," he says. "We should talk more about how we can help working people get higher paying jobs so they can more easily afford to live in nice, safe homes."
McBee says 40% of Dallas is considered "low income" and 30% of households with a female head-of-household are below the poverty line. She says she has reviewed a report Johnson ordered last year about the city's workforce.
"I saw how, in one of the nation's largest economic engines, we have huge sections of our community that continue to be left further and further behind," she says.
Johnson says McBee will spend this year working on a report covering three areas: development of a formal agreement among different organizations and city departments to measure success, how to use the mayor's office to increase awareness of services available now, and how to develop an online tool to match people with available "upskilling" programs.
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