DALLAS FRIENDS OF PUBLIC EDUCATION is a coalition of parents, teachers and concerned taxpayers who understand that to build a world-class city you must build a world-class public education system. We believe our children and city are best served when five core principles are clearly articulated and implemented:

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY AND TRANSPARENCY
Keep track of district's money. Balance the budget, keep track of taxpayer dollars, and clearly show taxpayers how THEIR money is being spent. The layoff of teachers in the middle of the semester because of poor accounting is unacceptable.

RESPECT FOR THE VOTERS
Hold elections when they are scheduled. Electing our representatives is fundamental to American democracy. It is the basic pillar of faith that our country was founded upon. When the DISD Board of Trustees illegally denied taxpayers their right to vote last year, they violated a sacred bond between the School Board and the voters. Trustees should not have to be reminded that they are accountable to us, the taxpayers, and that the way we the taxpayers hold them accountable is through elections.

BASIC ETHICAL STANDARDS
Board Trustees and their family members should not be able to get contracts from or profit from the school district. They are elected to be guardians of our public tax dollars. There is a reason the title of our board members is "Trustee."

MAGNET SCHOOLS, LEARNING CENTERS AND COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS
All of our schools should be adequately funded, but this must be achieved by elevating all schools to the highest educational and funding levels rather than reducing them to the lowest common denominator.

USE A FAIR SYSTEM TO DETERMINE TEACHER AND STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Test scores should not be the sole criterion for evaluating teachers or students.