Deion Sanders Funding Free Charter Schools in Dallas, Fort Worth

by Brandon Sneed

The former Dallas Cowboys superstar known as "Prime Time" is investing in and opening up two charter schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Deion Sanders' Prime Prep Academy will be open in the fall of 2012 for students grades kindergarten through fifth grade in Forth Worth, sixth through twelfth grade in Dallas. 

And the big kicker: The schools will be completely tuition free. 

Sanders and D.L. Wallace, a former entrepreneur who made enough in his younger years to spend his life now doing nice things like this, have partnered up for the venture. They've been working on it for three years. And if Sanders is telling the truth—and really, who's to believe he's not—he's more proud of this than anything he's done as a football player or broadcaster. 

"Nothing I have ever done compares to this," he told the newspaper. "We are going to have the best teachers and coaches. These schools will have no color and no boundaries. We plan to educate and influence kids to go on and make a true difference in their community."

Their goals for year one are to hire 100 teachers and provide a laptop for every student. Part of the thought process behind the laptop goal is to keep in step with a technology-centric curriculum which will provide inner-city students the chance to best prepare for working with modern society's ever-evolving technology. 

Prime Prep's website and Twitter account are already up and running, so go on and check 'em out. And in the meantime, give Prime Time a shout on Twitter, too. This really is awesome.