To our public education advocates,

Let us start by thanking you for being so dedicated and supportive throughout the initiative campaign. 15 months ago, a ballot initiative to protect and save public education was only an idea, and because of your efforts, we are substantially closer to making our goal a reality.

That being said, we want to share our progress and plan going forward.

We’ve collected over 35,000 signatures. This is a testament to your time and commitment and a tremendous number for a volunteer based organization like ours. That is 35,000 Missourians who are now far more aware of the fact that we are near last in state funding for public education and teacher pay as well as the constant efforts to defund our public schools.

We also won a monumental lawsuit against the Secretary of State. Ultimately, the courts sided with us and we received fair ballot language. Unfortunately, the damage done was real, as five months and tens of thousands of dollars were the cost of that fight. The SOS, as well as a non-profit organization funded by Rex Sinquefield, made it nearly impossible to build a coalition of aligned organizations, but not without us having a profound impact on the future of legal challenges.

We argued that Sinquefield’s non-profit lacked standing in joining our suit alongside the SOS, stating that there should not be an ability to enter a lawsuit just because you disagree with what the result of the suit might be. We won on that account and it has already made a difference…for public schools nonetheless.  Last week Toder v. Hoskins was cited in the Columbia Public School’s suit against the state in their effort to stop the expansion of charter schools in their district. In that case, another Sinquefield sponsored group (with the same legal team we defeated), tried to enter the case against CPS. The courts blocked them entirely, and the precedent CPS used in their argument to stop them was our case!

So, where are we going from here:

1. We are no longer focusing on collecting signatures for the purposes of qualifying for this cycle. That being said, we are not discouraging anyone from continuing to collect or turn in signatures. We are building awareness, building a database of people we know support the initiative who we will reach out to next cycle, and it has been an effective conversation starter as we solicit signatures for the Respect Missouri Voters Initiative. Please still turn in your petition sheets, even if they are not notarized. 

2. We are leaning into our support for RMV. It is essential that they are successful so our initiative, and initiatives as a whole for that matter, have a chance at success in the future.

3. We are launching a sister 501c3 to continue the educational work regarding the attacks of funding of public education, to coalition build, and to create organizational infrastructure that transcends a single initiative. We want to be very clear, our goal is not to step on the toes of organizations in the education space that are doing tremendously good work, but to educate the community on the matters of charter schools, vouchers, and school funding–areas in which we think we can play a strong role.

Looking ahead, we’re planning to run the initiative again as soon as petitions can be filed for the 2028 cycle and will begin collecting signatures promptly thereafter. The coalition we’ve been building this cycle will continue to grow, and all of our jobs between now and then is to add as many volunteers and organizations as possible to that coalition. The MNEA teacher’s union and the MRTA retired teachers association have committed to substantial support next time around, and we’re confident that with your support, their support, and the support of the thousands of people we will engage between now and then, we will find success.

In the near future, we’ll send out updated resources to share with your community and when you’re out as activists. There is a massive coalition of folks ready to be activated–all we have to do is let them know what we’re up to, and together, we will protect and strengthen public education.

In Solidarity,

Erica & Spencer