David Dunn

In a career spanning over three decades, David has worked to drive effective public policy at all levels; state, federal and local.

His enduring passion is working to improve educational outcomes for our nation’s students. David was the principal investigator for a project to design an accountability system for the public schools of Texas. This project, commissioned by the state legislature and including researchers from University of Texas, Texas A&M and the University of Houston developed the blueprint for the Texas Public Education Accountability system that helped to significantly improve student achievement and reduce the achievement gaps for low-income and minority students.

When President George W Bush made this system the template for school accountability systems under the No Child Left Behind Act, he called David to Washington to help with implementation. David served in the White House as the education advisor to the President and Domestic Policy Council and later served as Chief of Staff for the U.S. Department of Education under Secretary Margaret Spellings.

Recognizing the power in pairing strong accountability with educational choice for parents, David founded the Texas Charter School Association upon returning to Texas in 2008. While serving as Executive Director, David increased membership in the organization to include schools that serve 90% of the students in charter schools in the state, created training for administrators and board members, secured passage of major legislation allowing for the increase in the number and quality of charter schools. During David’s tenure with the TCSA, the charter movement in Texas experienced exponential growth in student enrollment and significant improvement in student outcomes, outpacing the gains achieved by their peers in the traditional school system.

David launched his company, D2 Strategies, to continue to help improve education experience and options, especially for low-income students.

David was born and raised in Fort Worth Texas. He graduated from Baylor University in 1979 with a degree in Political Science and in 1982 he earned a Masters in Government from The University of Texas at Austin. He currently lives in Galveston, TX with his wife, Terrell Halaska Dunn.