Support Our Public Schools

Support Our Public Schools
Basic facts
Location:	Dallas, Texas
Type:	501(c)(4)
Top official:	Wilton Hollins, President
Website:	Official website

Support Our Public Schools is an education reform group based in Dallas, Texas and led by former Dallas Board of Trustees member Wilton Hollins. The 501(c)(4) organization had led a petition effort to replace the district's governing structure with a home-rule charter that allowed greater flexibility.

Mission

According to Support Our Public Schools, the group's mission is as follows:

“

To promote and strengthen our public schools in Texas by ensuring a system focused on improving outcomes for students.

”

Background

Support Our Public Schools is a Dallas-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that seeks to advocate for a better school system in Dallas, Texas. The group organizes public education sessions on the state of the city's public schools as well as advocates for policy changes at the state and local levels. The organization, according to their Facebook page, argues: "The state of education for 160,000 students in Dallas public schools is the single most important issue in determining our long-term success or failure as a City; and it is the next big issue that City leaders must address now, before it is too late. We are advocating for changes to Dallas ISD that will help our schools to focus on what's best to educate our children."

Political activity

Home-rule charter

Support Our Public Schools early initiatives was to convert Dallas ISD into the state’s first home-rule charter school district. Volunteers for Support Our Public Schools began circulating petitions on March 4, 2014 to turn the district into a home-rule district. A state law passed in 1995 allowed local residents to replace their existing district structure with a home-rule charter. This charter could bypass some state regulations including minimum salary schedules for teachers, curriculum standards and the number of days in a school year. Support Our Public Schools was funded by former hedge fund manager John Arnold and several anonymous donors through his nonprofit organization, Action Now Initiative. Arnold worked with local officials including board member Mike Morath to form the group due to concerns about the district's record of academic performance. Morath supports Support Our Public Schools but does not serve on the group's board. The organization hopes to complete the petition drive in time for the gubernatorial election on November 4, 2014. If successful, Dallas Independent School District would be the first school district in Texas to use this process.

Support Our Public Schools submitted more than 48,000 petitions to district officials in mid-May 2014. District officials are reviewing the petitions to determine if signatures were provided by district residents as of May 21, 2014. The group needed at least 24,459 valid signatures or five percent of registered voters in the district to force the creation of a charter commission by the school board. This 15-member body would have to reflect the demographic diversity of the city and include at least four teachers. The charter commission would develop a charter that describes how the home-rule district would function. If approved by the Texas Commissioner of Education, voters would approve or reject the charter at the polls. State law requires a simple majority and at least 25% of registered voters to cast ballots in the charter election.

Local officials and advocates have debated the group's efforts as petitioners seek signatures. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings supported the effort in order to bring change to the district while board members Lew Blackburn and Bernadette Nutall have questioned the motivations of Support Our Public Schools. Superintendent Mike Miles believed the home-rule effort is unnecessary as the district has initiated necessary reforms within state education policies. Alliance-AFT president Rena Honea argues that this effort is "part of a plan to underfund our schools, declare them a failure, and contract out to private operators the control of our neighborhood schools, disenfranchising parents and community stakeholders and de-professionalizing teaching."

Mark Melton, a local attorney and charter supporter, published a seven-page constitution intended to guide a charter commission if the petition drive is successful. This constitution developed by Melton and four colleagues would leave the district largely unchanged. The document proposes a three-term limit on all board members, a provision for recalling board members and an earlier start date for district schools. Melton's proposal would allow a recall election to take place if 15 percent of residents in a trustee district signed petitions. He offered the proposals as a reaction to the rancorous debate taking place between Support Our Public Schools volunteers and some district residents.

On January 20, 2015, The Dallas Morning News reported that the proposed charter failed to pass by a 10 to 5 vote from the commissioners.

Leadership

Below is the list of the leadership for Support Our Public Schools (as of the most recent IRS filing available: 2014):

• Wilton Hollins, President
• Stephen Jones, Secretary
• Jeronimo Valdez, Treasurer
• Louisa Meyer
• Amy Casto

Finances

The following is a breakdown of Support Our Public Schools's revenues and expenses as submitted to the IRS for the 2013 to 2014 fiscal years:

Annual revenue and expenses for Support Our Public Schools, 2013–2014
Tax Year	Total Revenue	Total Expenses
2014	$460,118	$470,376
2013	$15,000	$5

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Support + Our + Public + Schools"

Support Our Public Schools News Feed

See also

• Influencers project
• School board elections project
• Education policy project
• Education policy in the United States
• Public education in Texas
• Texas school districts
• Dallas Independent School District, Texas
• Dallas Independent School District elections (2014)

External links

• Support Our Public Schools website
• Facebook page