Dean Johnson

About Dean Johnson

I grew up in Kansas City, Missouri and attended Loyola University Chicago. I graduated with a degree in political science and English, joined the Jesuit International Volunteers and gained a love for teaching during my two years at Xavier High School in the Federated States of Micronesia. After returning to Chicago I was an 8th grade teacher and then principal at The San Miguel School in the Back of the Yards neighborhood. During my six years at San Miguel I was inspired by the immigrant and first generation students that our school served, and the determination of their parents to build a better quality of life for their families in America. After earning a masters\' degree in International Political Economy and Development from Fordham University in New York City, my wife and I moved to Zimbabwe in 2005, where I completed an internship with Catholic Relief Services. During my time in Zimbabwe the government initiated \"Operation Murambatsvina\" in which urban poor neighborhoods were burned and bulldozed, displacing tens of thousands of people. My duties included organizing emergency relief efforts in several affected communities. Later in 2005 I moved to Aceh, Indonesia and joined the Catholic Relief Services team responding to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami which killed over people, destroyed more than homes, inundated wells and rice fields with saltwater and left a hundred miles of the Sumatran coast in tatters. During my three-plus years in Aceh, I gained a deeper understanding of human resilience working together with tsunami survivors to rebuild their homes and communities. My wife and I moved back to Kansas City in 2009 when we were expecting our first child. I returned to school leadership as the Executive Director of a charter school. In 2011, Tysie McDowell and I co-founded Crossroads Charter Schools in downtown Kansas City. During my nine years as Executive Director, Crossroads grew to three schools, serving over students in grades PreK through high school. During my tenure Tysie and I were recognized as \"Urban Heroes\" by the Downtown Council, and I was honored to be named the \"Missouri Charter School Leader of the Year\" in 2019. In 2021 I founded Quality Schools Coalition (QSC) to advocate in Jefferson City for improvements to public education policy in Missouri. QSC focuses on fair and adequate funding for public schools, providing parents with clear and accessible information about school quality, and working to ensure that parents have a variety of high-quality public school options for their children.

Experience

1. President & CEO

   Quality Schools Coalition

   Jan 2021 — Present · Kansas City, MO, US

   Founded a non-profit that improves education in Missouri by advocating for policy conditions in which public schools flourish. In collaboration with our coalition partners, QSC has successfully advocated for legislation which adds $62 million annually to charter school funding in Kansas City and St. Louis, and legislation that adds over $400 million to public education funding by expanding pre-school programs, increasing teacher pay, and creating a more equitable school funding formula, while also expanding school choice options for parents. QSC continues to advocate for legislation that strengthens Missouri\'s public school accountability system.

Education

• Fordham University

  Master of Arts - MA

• Columbia College Chicago

  Master of Arts - MA

• Loyola University Chicago

  Bachelor's degree