The business and education communities in Texas are deeply intertwined, and Commissioner of Education Mike Morath is a telling example of that link. The Texas Education Agency’s leader has roots in the business community – before becoming a Dallas Independent School District trustee, Morath led a software company for a decade.
His first dive into working with public schools came when he joined a chamber of commerce program that matched business leaders with principals. Morath told the audience of several hundred gathered at Southern Methodist University on Monday that he would meet monthly with the principal at Dallas ISD’s Jefferson High School, and the more he heard about the principal’s problems, the more he wanted to get involved.