Placer County for Delaine Eastin

Her father was a Navy machinist and her mother a dress sales clerk. Education and hard work were the values she was taught. California can and should lead America with innovative solutions to real life challenges that start with a dedication to the education of our children. In the Assembly she chaired the Education Committee and sponsored major legislation to reform California’s education system.

Eastin authored the first school bond that combined higher education and K-12 schools into one bond. These bonds helped pay for new schools at all education levels as well as fixing and modernizing old schools. Delaine advocated for proven programs that work -- universal preschool and full-day mandatory kindergarten. As chair of the Governmental Efficiency and Consumer Protection Committee, Eastin combined two agencies into one, the first time this had been done in over thirty years. She worked to provide better consumer protection from the misdeeds of unlicensed contractors. Eastin also carried the biggest landfill cleanup bill in the state's history, and won numerous awards for her innovative recycling legislation. She carried legislation to ensure that local transportation measures were not stalled for years at Caltrans and was awarded the Legislator of the Year Award by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the first Assemblymember and woman to ever win that award. She ran for State Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1994 and overcame the Republican wave to become the first - and to date only - woman to serve in that position. She served two terms from 1995-2003 under two different Governors –- one Republican and one Democrat. "Unfortunately over the past 20 years California has had a constantly changing set of values and budget priorities driven either by polling of the day or the crisis of the moment. It is time for us to stop being short term reactionaries and start strategically planning for a bright future for California. One of my favorite quotes is from Neil Postman: 'Children are a living message we send to a time we will never see.' What is the message California leaders are sending to our future? I think we can craft a much better message." Delaine would be honored for you to join her campaign for Governor of California, because "I know that together we can do better".