Dear Friends
I am excited to announce to you that I am running for re-election as your Dallas ISD Trustee for District 2. Serving the students of Dallas has been a great honor, and I am grateful for the trust the community has placed in me. I’m very proud of the accomplishments that Dallas ISD has celebrated over the last several years, including:
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Increased school funding. With the administration and a few fellow trustees, I traveled to Austin several times to advocate for significant new funding for our public education system. The majority of our new funding from the state allowed for a
reduction in your property tax rate by increasing the state’s share of funding for our schools. I am pleased to say that most new funds will go directly towards
increasing teacher salaries. At my urging, the District also chose to spend some of our new funds from the state on Special Ed Support, Dyslexia Services, as well as Youth & Family Services (Mental and Physical Health Services).
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Recruiting and Retaining Better Principals. I worked closely with the administration on the development of an initiative called LEAD which will improve our ability to recruit and train new Principals. It will also focus on improving principal retention and
keep our good principals in our schools and communities longer.
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Overhauled the bus system. After leading the campaign to abolish the corrupt Dallas County Schools transportation system, I supported Dallas ISD creating their own internal transportation system. After some expected issues, I am proud to report that buses continue to improve their service and currently operate with a
95% on-time arrival rate.
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Special Education. I formed a special education advisory council with parents, teachers and administrators who spent months working tirelessly to produce a binder of specific recommendations on how our schools can
better serve these students, which I have shared with the administration and am working to implement. We’ve already seen several key changes in leadership positions in this department.
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Dallas Education Foundation. I have worked with my colleagues to renew Dallas ISD’s partnership with the Dallas Education Foundation, the fundraising arm of the school district. In addition to the renewed partnership, I cheered the hire of its
new executive director, Mita Havlick, a longtime District 2 resident and tireless advocate for our students. I cannot wait to see Mita work in this official role on behalf of our kids.
Yet, no matter how far we have come, we cannot forget how far we still need to go.
I first ran for this school board because of my guiding belief that
each and every child in our community deserves the opportunity to define their own success – regardless of the circumstances into which they were born. That principle has guided every decision I have made on the school board, and I am looking forward to continuing to bring that perspective to future decisions that the Dallas ISD Board will confront.
In my next term, I pledge to you to expand on the progress we have already made by:
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Continuing to prioritize improving student outcomes above all else and ensuring our processes align with the new systems set in place from the last legislative session so we can
capitalize on all the new sources for additional funding for our schools and teachers;
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Leveraging best practices in teacher pipeline development, recruiting, and retention to ensure we have
excellent educators in front of every classroom;
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Improving equity
throughout the district so that all kids have access to opportunity, including continuing to improve the district’s Special Education and Dyslexia services;
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Remaining accessible to you so I can be the best advocate possible for the kids of our community.
Thank you for your support, and I look forward to seeing you out on the campaign trail as we work together for the future of our kids.
Please click here
if you would like to be involved with my campaign, or if here if you want to order your yard sign early.
Sincerely,
Dustin Marshall
