Meeting Speaker for Monday, June 23, 2014 - Delaine Eastin

In 1994, Delaine Eastin became only the fourth woman to win a Constitutional office when she was elected as the first woman to be the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, a position she held for 8 years.  During that time, Delaine supported high standards for all students in math, English, history, science and the arts.  She advocated smaller class size in Kindergarten through third grade over the initial opposition of the governor.  She advocated for mandatory full day kindergarten and for universal preschool. Delaine sought to improve school lunches and nutrition and advocated gardens in every school.  Prior to serving as SPI, Delaine served 8 years in the legislature where she carried the first bond that put higher education and k-12 in a bond together.  Delaine chaired the Assembly Education committee and worked to improve school libraries, technology and facilities as well as lengthening the school year by 5 days. She fought to increase per pupil spending and to enhance the cooperation between k-12 and Higher Education. After serving as SPI, Delaine became the first Executive Director of the National Institute for School Leadership in Washington DC. She lives in Davis and continues her passion to improve education outcomes through her consulting work and service on boards.