This petition is to ask Superintendent Hodges of the Mansfield Public School System to resign from her position amidst allegations of plagiarizing her commencement speech at the graduation ceremony on June 8th, 2014. Many have noted the similarities between her speech and US Navy Admiral William McRaven’s speech given at the University of Texas at Austin in May. Ms. Hodges has vehemently denied lifting words from the speech, claiming that she was not aware of the similarities until after her speech was given, and that the first she learned of the issue was from an anonymous letter written to her from a student. Her words, she says, are influenced by another graduation speech she was given permission to use from her home state of Oklahoma.

The status of education in the Mansfield Public School System is on the line. If we want to set a good example for our students and surrounding areas of what Mansfield education is all about, we need a leader who will make the detrimental consequences of plagiarism clear and take no part in it themselves. Whether you are a current student, a graduate, or a resident of the Town of Mansfield, it is vital that we take a stand in our public education and voice how important the quality of our school system is to us. This begins with a leader who will set an example for students to value their education and be sincere in the work they submit.