Jake and Charlyn Plunk first learned about CFT through their support of local nonprofits on North Texas Giving Day, and established their donor-advised fund, The Plunk Family Fund at CFT in 2020.

Jake and Charlyn met at Texas Tech University while studying engineering and are passionate about education — especially STEM. Witnessing their parents’ generosity and being the recipient of generosity through college scholarships was what inspired them to want to help others together as a family as soon as they had the opportunity to do so.

“As parents, we’ve seen firsthand the difference that education can make in a young person’s life. Without the educational opportunities we had at Texas Tech, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” said Charlyn.

Jake and Charlyn both give back to Texas Tech through service on advisory boards and councils, and they’ve also established the Gleeson Plunk Engineering Scholarship at Texas Tech to support engineering students, many of them first generation college students.

Charlyn, who was one of the founders of Sci-Tech Discovery Center, remembers attending board and committee meetings for various nonprofits with a little one in tow. Fast forward to present day, and the Plunks continue to further their family legacy of generosity, involving their three adult children in their giving. During the holidays, they continue to volunteer together as a family at local nonprofits.

Since starting their fund at CFT, they also give their children the opportunity to recommend grants from their fund. “It’s been really meaningful to see which nonprofits they choose each year,” said Charlyn. They’ve also invited Charlyn’s parents to join when they volunteer, which has allowed their children to witness multiple generations giving back to causes near to their hearts. Some of the organizations they’ve supported together include Emily’s Place, Feed My Starving Children, the North Texas Food Bank, Operation Kindness, and Prestonwood Pregnancy Center.

Charlyn continues to lead by example in support of her passion cause areas. She serves on the boards of Sci-Tech Discovery Center and the Treasured Vessels Foundation, and also serves as the STEM Advisory Chair for the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas. This spring, she’ll serve as the Gala Chair for the inaugural Special Forces Foundation gala.

One thing that’s streamlined their giving is their fund at CFT. “From a convenience and an ease factor, it’s been great for us,” said Jake.

“Having CFT as a partner for our charitable giving fund has been extremely helpful, as has joining a community that surrounds us with other charitably minded people. We have all of our giving information in one easy-to-access place now. We’ve had such a great experience, and are looking forward to getting even more involved through CFT.”

– JAKE PLUNK
  CFT FUND HOLDER

Educate Texas‘ Best In Class (BIC) Coalition, a collaborative effort powered by CFT and The Commit Partnership, united over 50 partner organizations to ensure all students can access effective and diverse educators. For seven years, the collaboration focused on implementing comprehensive programs to attract, prepare, develop, and retain high-quality educators within Texas schools. Their mission culminates with innovative, long-lasting solutions enabling more Texas schools to adopt and sustain vital programs toward this goal. 

This pioneering endeavor yielded the expansion of the Accelerating Campus Excellence (ACE) program from Dallas ISD to 14 districts and 58 campuses statewide. ACE placed highly effective educators in underperforming schools, benefiting 100,000 students across the state.

ACE schools achieved first-year growth in Math performance, and campuses consistently surpassed state and non-ACE peer averages in Math and Reading STAAR performance. ACE schools also exhibited smaller declines in learning during the challenging COVID-19 period. 

ACE campuses across the state saw positive impact on their students’ STAAR scores during support.

PERFORMANCE

On average, during COVID-19, ACE campuses saw smaller declines in learning loss compared to non-ACE campuses in Dallas County.

ACCOUNTABILITY

55% of campuses supported through ACE saw at least one letter grade increase from time of implementation to 2022.

DISTRICTS

58 campuses supported across 14 districts. 125,245 students have been supported across these campuses since 2015.

Senior Officer of the Leadership Academy Network, Priscila Dilley, worked with the BIC Coalition to bring the ACE school model to Fort Worth ISD campuses. Dilley views investing in quality educators as a powerful means to uplift and empower underserved communities. 

In 2019, the Texas Legislature, catalyzed by the success of ACE and strategic compensation initiatives in North Texas, passed HB3, which allotted $1 billion for statewide implementation of the Teacher Incentive Allotment (TIA), creating viable avenues for exceptional teachers to earn competitive salaries, acknowledging and incentivizing excellence in the teaching profession. BIC actively assisted school districts in implementing TIA, helping secure and allocate $120 million since 2021. 

Since then, the number of TIA-designated teachers has increased yearly, with 5,090 designations in fiscal year 2023. This support extended to 30 school districts across 18 counties, benefiting more than 600,000 students statewide. Best In Class TIA support helped districts draw down over $50 million in FY23 alone. 

Teacher Incentive Allotment By the Numbers

DRAWDOWN

Districts awarded over $120 million since FY21. There was an 85% increase in drawdown available to campuses supported from FY21 to FY23.  

DESIGNATION

5,090 teachers were designated in FY23. This represents a nearly 70% increase in teachers designated in FY23 in comparison to FY21. 

DISTRICTS

30 districts across 18 different counties throughout the state received support that served over $600,000 students in 2022.

Furthermore, BIC recognized the vital role of nurturing and developing teachers in shaping students’ futures. They successfully innovated the TIA and ACE models and codified them into policy and regulations.

In doing so, they created an ecosystem of providers that continue supporting TIA and ACE programs across the state, even as the formal BIC program concludes. By taking this action, the effort has paved the way for more students to succeed. The BIC Coalition, under the dedicated leadership of CFT and The Commit Partnership, made a significant impact on education in Texas.

Though the formal program concluded at the end of 2022-23, its legacy of fostering effective educators and sustaining essential programs will be reshaped in our new Teaching and Leading portfolio, ensuring a brighter future for students across the state.

“The people standing in front of the students are the most impactful resource. When you have the right people in front of kids, the kids can do anything.”

– PRISCILA DILLEY
  SENIOR OFFICER, LEADERSHIP ACADEMY NETWORK