School boards play an important role in education and their elections matter. To elect school board candidates that support teachers and public education, activism is required. This includes recruiting strong candidates, fundraising, and training. In Dallas, the teachers' union endorsed 3 candidates in a special election and two were elected, showing that robust voter outreach can be effective. When union-endorsed candidates are elected, it can lead to positive changes like teachers receiving compensation and the school board being more receptive to union concerns. Overall, participating in school board races through activities like phonebanking and technical support is important for organizing and advocating for public education.

1. Why School Boards Matter Tanya Tarr Texas AFT March 18, 2010

3. Dallas

4. Key Takeaways

6. Elements of a Race Activist Recruitment Fundraising Training

8. Does the candidate hold up against a rigorous endorsement review process?

9. Is this candidate fearless and willing to work harder than volunteers?

10. Does the candidate have financial resources?

12. Dallas Endorsed 3 candidates in the special election Two seats - Parrott and Nutall - were elected Even when you don’t win, you win.

13. Tactics and costs

14. Why we won Overlapping groups of voters Aggressive voter contact of known school board voters Robust voter contact of all ISD employees by our members (expansion universe) Partnering with the candidates Phonebanking out of the Alliance-AFT office Technical assistance (list management) Encouragement and coaching

15. How elections support Organizing After filing a grievance, more than 100 teachers received $222,875 in performance pay Parrott was one of three members of the grievance board DISD Trustees that had been non-responsive or hostile changed their attitude towards the local president. The DISD School Board stopped threatening consultation

16. WE have the POWER! Questions? Please feel free to email me: tarr@texasaft.org