Katie Benningfield

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT KATIE BENNINGFIELD

My name is Katie Benningfield and I am a dynamic educator who is passionate about elevating educator voices to improve educational equity and student achievement for students of color.I use my voice to elevate the experiences of my students and myself to advocate for increased school funding, the use of strategic compensation, and trauma informed instruction for all students within the state of Texas. I have used my experiences to testify in front of legislative committees, speak at multiple legislative briefings, and publish an Op-Ed in the Texas Tribune in support of the Texas Commission on Public School Finance recommendations to improve the financing of public schools and passing of House Bill 3. Additionally, I have worked with StriveTogether, a nonprofit organization working to achieve racial and ethnic equity, to film a documentary on the passing of House Bill 3 and how teacher voice, like my own, was critical to the movement so that other teachers may feel empowered to use their own voices to advocate for education reform in their states. I also worked in support of a Tax Ratification Election ballot initiative to raise local property taxes in Dallas to inject over $126 million into Dallas ISD and spoke at a Dallas ISD Board Meeting to insure those funds would be used to continue the positive initiatives that are moving the needle for our students such as strategic compensation. In support of Social Emotional Learning and Trauma Informed Instruction, I submitted written testimony to state legislatures in support of House Bill 18, co-authored policy recommendations on how school districts can best utilize Social and Emotional Learning strategies to support teachers and students in Dallas ISD, spoke at a session of the 2019 Grantmakers for Education to encourage donors to fund grants related to Social Emotional Learning and sited Trauma Informed Instruction professional development as a top priority for all teachers to Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath in response to education changes as a result of COVID-19. This May, after receiving a call from Secretary of Education DeVos, I published Op-Ed in Edu Post to encourage Secretary DeVos and other decision-makers can give is to show their support of and trust in educators by making sure our students have access to the resources they need to thrive such as funding and trauma informed training practices. The best part of this work is that I get to share it with my students and show how they can advocate for change themselves.