A Message from The Founder

Parents depend on the institutions entrusted with their children. We depend on schools to protect them, educate them well, respect their families, use resources responsibly, and prepare them for the future.

That responsibility is more than an obligation. It is a sacred trust.

My work began with a troubling question: What happens when the very people and systems entrusted with protecting children fail them?

As a teacher, school administrator, legislator, and child advocate, I have seen that broken trust take many forms.

It is broken when a child is harmed and warning signs are ignored.
It is broken when institutions protect themselves instead of the children they serve.
It is broken when a child spends years in school yet leaves unable to read.
It is broken when parents are shut out of decisions affecting their children.
And it is broken when billions of public dollars are spent without producing better outcomes for the children those dollars were intended to serve.

Behind every policy, every statistic, every investigation, and every headline is a child.

That is what I never want us to forget.

Broken Trust grew out of my determination to understand why these failures happen and what we can do about them.

This work follows the evidence wherever it leads. We examine difficult cases, institutional failures, education outcomes, public policy, the use of taxpayer resources, and the decisions that affect children and families. We will ask hard questions, document what we find, and pursue reforms that strengthen transparency, accountability, and the protection of children.

Because when we entrust our children to others, honoring that trust is sacred.

Sherrie Conley
Founder, Broken Trust
Former Oklahoma State Representative • Educator • Child Advocate