Jamie is president of Vollmer, Inc., a public education advocacy firm working to halt the erosion of public trust and build support for America's public schools. He is the author of Schools Cannot Do It Alone: Building Public Support for America's Public Schools, a wildly popular read among educators and a rally cry for communities to stand with their public schools. www.jamievollmer.com

 

"Jamie represents everything we stand for as an organization," said Scott Milder, President and CEO of Friends of Texas Public Schools. "His awakening from harsh critic to award-winning advocate of America's public schools represents the transformation we believe any critic of reasonable mind would undergo if presented with the realities of public schooling."

 

"Public education is under attack as never before," Vollmer says. "Bashing public schools has become a blood sport-a  dangerous game in which sensational headlines publicize half-truths, statistics are used out of context, and test results are reported in the worst possible light."

           

Jamie is not a professional educator. He entered the education arena after careers in manufacturing and law. He worked in the Washington D.C. law firm of United States Congressman William Cramer until 1985, when he left to join the management team of the Great Midwestern Ice Cream Company, in Fairfield Iowa. The company was proclaimed by People magazine to make the "Best Ice Cream in America!" He ultimately became the company's president.

 

Once a harsh critic, Jamie is now recognized across North America as a friend of public education. Over the last twenty years, he has worked with hundreds of school districts, chambers of commerce, education associations, and foundations to help foster student success.

 

For more details about attending this event, or if you would like to consider a table sponsorship, please contact Amber Fulton at afulton@fotps.org.