Crowley ISD's first Black superintendent breaks down barriers, changes lives
FORT WORTH, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) — A man from Jasper, Texas is breaking barriers in North Texas. CBS 11 is highlighting him during Black History Month.
In 2017, Dr. Michael McFarland became the first Black superintendent in Crowley ISD.
"We tell kids they can be anything but often times if you can't see it, it's hard to be it," McFarland said. "So, I think it's important for people that look like me to be in leadership roles."
McFarland came to Crowley ISD after serving as superintendent of Lancaster ISD. He said he didn't always know what he wanted to do.
As a child McFarland started playing football and thought he wanted to be a football coach or an athletic director, but one conversation changed that. "Ms. Marva Cauley, she sat me down and asked me what I wanted to do, and in high school I didn't know. But what I told her was I want to do what you're doing."
"Eventually, once I got into this system, I realized I had an opportunity to make a much larger impact by being a principal and then eventually a superintendent," McFarland said.
He received his Bachelor of Business Administration from Baylor University, a Master of Education in educational administration and superintendent certification from Stephen F. Austin University. Then he graduated with his Doctorate of Education from Baylor University. After that, he began to live out his dream by making a difference in the Texas school system.
"It's something that we're really proud of but also it's something that we share and show what we can actually do," McFarland said. "Our district is performing at high levels for the first time in nine years."
He hopes as kids continue to see him, they know that anything is possible.
"To see kids in the classroom… makes the effort that we put forward tangible and it makes it worthwhile for me," McFarland said. "It starts off with believing that you can, even in some cases when you don't see it but believe that it's possible."