The Washington State Board of Education is working hard to improve student achievement and ensure that all students receive a high quality education that prepares them for the demands of the workplace, postsecondary education and citizenship.

The Board is an advocate for all students, educators, schools and districts across our state.  The Board is committed to creating policies and finding the tools and resources to help every school and every district improve student achievement. Working together, we can help all students succeed.

The State Board holds its public, bi-monthly meetings in venues across the state. Additionally, Board members and staff participate in a variety of meetings revolving around our work. Agenda and materials made available during those meetings are available here. Click on the column headers to sort by date, meeting, and material/key initiative.

Future Meetings: January 13-14 Board Meeting

• Agenda (pdf)
  
  

 

The State Board will issued flyers, graphics, media releases, and op-eds pertaining to our initiatives.

Additionally, newspapers and other sources will release material relating or referring to the Board's work. The table below represents this collection, which can be sorted by subject, date, and graphic/release.

 

 

Click on the links below to learn more about the Washington State Board of Education.

History Goals Composition Board Members Board Staff Board Membership - Overview Board Membership - Election

Our History:

The State Board of Education is one of the longest existing institutions of Washington State government. It has operated continuously since 1877, when it was created by the Legislature of the Territory of Washington.

The Board has been reconstituted by the Legislature five times: 1897, 1909, 1947, 1992, and 2005. In 2005 the Legislature established the board which exists today by passing Senate Bill 5732.

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Our Goals

The Board has three overarching goals:

1. Improve achievement for all students.
2. Improve graduation rates.
3. Improve student preparation for post-secondary education and the 21st century world of work and citizenship.

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Board Composition

The State Board of Education is composed of education, community and business leaders and students from across Washington. The Board’s 16 members are committed to the successful education of all children through participation in this unique board opportunity afforded citizens in the governance of education of Washington's children.

16 Statutory Members
Members	Selection	Vote
5 members: 3 Western WA, 2 Eastern WA	Elected by board members from school districts in Western and Eastern Washington	Full vote on all matters
1 private school representative	Elected by the members of state-approved private schools	Full vote on all matters
Superintendent of Public Instruction	Elected statewide	Full vote on all matters
7 members	Appointed by the Governor	Full vote on all matters
2 high school students: 1 Western WA, 1 Eastern WA	By Washington Association of Student Councils	Non-voting members

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Board Members

1. Mary Jean Ryan, Chair
   Seattle (Governor Appointed)
2. Warren T. Smith Sr., Vice Chair
   Spanaway (WSSDA Elected, Western WA, Position 5)
3. Amy Bragdon
   Newman Lake [Spokane] (Governor Appointed)
4. Dr. Bernal Baca
   Yakima (Governor Appointed)
5. Bob Hughes
   Olympia (WSSDA Elected, Western WA, Position 4)
6. Eric Liu
   Seattle (Governor Appointed)
7. Jeff Vincent
   Bainbridge Island (Governor Appointed)
8. John C. Schuster
   Ocean Shores, Private Schools Representative
9. Dr. Kristina L. Mayer
   Port Townsend (Governor Appointed)
10. Phyllis Bunker Frank
    Yakima (WSSDA Elected, Eastern WA, Position 2)
11. Randy Dorn
    Superintendent of Public Instruction
12. Dr. Sheila Fox
    Bellingham (Governor Appointed)
13. Dr. Steve Dal Porto
    Quincy (WSSDA Elected, Eastern WA, Position 1)
14. Connie Fletcher
    Issaquah (WSSDA Representative via Appointment)
15. Anna Laura Kastama
    Tacoma, Student (Western Washington)
16. Austianna Quick
    Oroville, Student (Eastern Washington)

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Mary Jean Ryan
Seattle (Governor Appointed)

Mary Jean Ryan is the Director of the City of Seattle’s Office of Policy and Management.  Her office leads many of the City’s high-profile policy development and project management efforts such as the Mayor’s Children and Youth Strategy, Northgate revitalization, South Lake Union, University of Washington partnership, etc. Prior to that, she was Seattle’s Economic Development Director.  Mayor Norm Rice hired Mary Jean to create Seattle’s Economic Development Office in 1992. Mary Jean has a deep interest in education and work force development. She currently serves on the Board of the Seattle Jobs Initiative and on the Seattle School District’s Community Advisory Committee for Investing in Educational Excellence.

Mary Jean served in Washington, D.C., in the Clinton Administration as the Associate Deputy Administrator for Economic Develop­ment for the U.S. Small Business Administration. Early in her career she was the Director of the Ever­green Community Development Association (1986-1992).  She is a 1988 graduate of the Seattle Chamber/United Way Leadership Tomorrow Program. 

Mary Jean has a B.A. from George­town University and a M.P.A. from the University of Southern California.  She is a member of the Georgetown University Athletic Hall of Fame. She has a daughter who attends Roosevelt High School.

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Warren T. Smith
Spanaway (WSSDA Elected, Western WA, Position 5)

Mr. Smith was a school director holding posts of president, vice president and legislative representative for the Bethel School District from 1986 to 1999. He has also been a member of the State Board since 2000 and board president in 2004. Mr. Smith has served in various capacities with the Washington State School Directors Association's (WSSDA) executive board, including president, president-elect and vice president.

He was co-founder and chair of WSSDA's Diversity/Multicultural Advocacy Team, co-chair of its Legislative Committee and the delegate to the National School Boards Association (NSBA). With NSBA, Mr. Smith was the Pacific Region chair, the Federal Relations Network chair and served with the Government Relations Regional Conference. He was a member of the Governors' Community Leaders Outreach Forum and a grant reviewer for the Department of Education Challenge Grant.

Mr. Smith retired from US West Communications, where he was a manager. He and his wife now provide foster care for young men between the ages of 12 and 18. Deeply committed to ensuring an equitable education for all children, Mr. Smith is keenly aware of the issues of diversity and fairness. He is a Graduate Fellow Class III of the American Leadership Forum, and a former member of the Northwest Regional Lab, the African American Think Tank, and the Multi-Ethnic Think Tank. He is an ordained deacon of the Saint John Baptist Church. Mr. Smith attended Tacoma Community College, Advance Leadership School/Military Police School, Institute for Intercultural Communication at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. Mr. Smith was chair of the Equity Committee, and has been a member of the Executive and Legislative Committees.

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Amy Bragdon
Spokane (Appointed by Governor Gregoire through January 2013)

Appointed by Governor Gregoire, Ms. Bragdon retired from West Valley School District after serving 33 years in education as a teacher and later as an elementary, middle school principal and high school assistant principal. She taught at Eastern Washington University for several years and was recently a member of their Principal Professional Education Advisory Board. 

She maintains membership in the state Elementary School Principals Association, Association of Secondary School Principals, and the Washington State Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and was elected state President and elected board member of that organization.

She is a former board member of the YMCA in Spokane Valley, and currently on the Board of Directors for Hutton Settlement Children’s Home in Spokane.  She was recently appointed by the Governor to the Washington Learns Steering Committee, and liaison to the K-12 Advisory Committee.

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Dr. Bernal Baca
Yakima (Governor Appointed)

Appointed by Governor Gregoire, Dr. Baca has over 30 years experience as a counselor, teacher and administrator at both two and four year colleges. He has been at his current position as Faculty Director of the Office of Recruitment and Retention for seven of the 30 years he has been employed by Yakima Valley Community College. Dr. Baca coordinates Title V, Gear Up, Title II and FIPSE grants and is responsible for research, evaluation and training of a $11.5 million dollar U.S. Department of Education Project GEAR UP partnership grant. Dr. Baca assumed a leadership role in securing HSI (Hispanic Serving Institution) designation for Yakima Valley Community College.

Dr. Baca is Vice President of the Washington Federation of Teachers serving as the Human Rights Chair; and, both President and Chief Negotiator for the Yakima Valley Federation of Teachers.  He is past President of the Association for Multicultural Counseling and Development (AMCD) and immediate Past President for the Washington Counseling Association. Dr. Baca serves on the Board of Directors for EPIC (Enterprise for Progress In the Community), a community non-profit organization. 

He served an appointment to the Governor’s Affirmative Action Policy Committee for Washington State and is a member of the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction ‘Think Tank’ for educating Hispanic students. Dr. Baca has conducted research studies on community college student retention. He is currently an appointed member of the Washington Learns. As a co-founder of ‘The Washington Center for Research, Evaluation and Development of K-14 Comprehensive Counseling Programs’ (RED Team), he has led the momentum to coordinate research and planning of  K-14 comprehensive counseling and career development programs in the State of Washington.

Dr. Baca has published articles for local journals and co-authored successful grant applications for Title V, Upward Bound, Special Services, FIPSE, and Project GEAR UP. Dr. Baca has read grants for the past 15 years for the U.S. Department of Education. He is a certified ‘True Colors’ facilitator and a ‘National Standards’ trainer for the American School Counselor Association. Dr. Baca earned a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Seattle University, 1999. In addition, he holds Masters degrees in Public Administration (Washington State University, 1981) and Counseling (Seattle University, 1987) as well as a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science (University of Colorado, 1975).

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Bob Hughes
Seattle (WSSDA Elected, Position 4)

Bob Hughes joined the Board in January 2009.

Before retirement, Mr. Hughes worked for The Boeing Corporation in Seattle, spending the last ten years there as the Corporate Director of Education Relations.  This position contributed to Mr. Hughes' passion for education, and he found the work at Boeing both professionally and personally rewarding.

Mr. Hughes has extensive experience working on behalf of students in Washington State, including 29 years with the Lake Washington School Board, six years on the Governor's Council on Advanced Technology in Schools, nine years with the Washington Roundtable's Working Committee on Education Reform, and six years as a member of the WSSDA Board of Directors.

Mr. Hughes graduated from Western Washington University with a B.A. in economics.  He and his wife Linda have two children and four grandchildren.

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Jeff Vincent
Bainbridge Island (Governor Appointed)

Jeff Vincent is the Chief Executive Officer and President of the Laird Norton Company LLC. He leads the Laird Norton investment team in the oversight of current investments, the development of new investment opportunities, and in the day-to-day management of Company activities. Jeff joined the Laird Norton Company LLC in January of 2001. Jeff has more than 20 years of business experience in such roles as CEO, CFO, corporate development officer, and strategy consultant. During 15 years of this experience, he worked with privately held family companies where he developed a fundamental understanding of how to successfully manage these types of entities.

Jeff also built a solid operating background, especially in the area of manufacturing and distribution. In his various positions, he has restructured business operations, bought and sold more than 15 companies, and has directed a variety of strategic initiatives in such areas as product development and international expansion. Jeff likes his current challenge of leading Laird Norton, a company with 150 years of history, forward into the 21st century.

Jeff received his BSBA from Drake University, summa cum laude, and received his MBA from the Harvard Business School where he was a Baker Scholar. Upon graduating from the Harvard Business School, he was a consultant with McKinsey and Company.

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Eric Liu
Seattle (Governor Appointed)

Appointed by Governor Gregoire. Eric Liu is an author and educator who has served in senior leadership roles in national politics, media, and business. He is the author of "Guiding Lights: The People Who Lead Us Toward Our Purpose in Life," a book about transformative teachers and mentors from many walks of life, which was a Readers Digest Editors' Choice and named the Official Book of National Mentoring Month. This book was the inspiration for the recent Guiding Lights Weekend, an experiential conference on the art of mentoring held at the Seattle Center. Liu is also the author of "The Accidental Asian: Notes of a Native Speaker," a New York Times Notable Book featured in the PBS documentary Matters of Race. 

Eric served as a speechwriter for President Clinton in the first term and as White House deputy domestic policy adviser in the second, where he managed policy development on education and other issues. From 2000-02, he was an executive at the digital media company RealNetworks. He lives with his daughter in Seattle, where he teaches at the University of Washington's Evans School of Public Affairs. He serves on numerous nonprofit boards, including those of the Seattle Public Library, the Seattle Center Foundation, Common Cause, and the Asian Community Leadership Foundation. He also serves on the steering committee of Washington Learns.

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John C. Schuster
Ocean Shores (Private Schools Representative)

Mr. Schuster joined the State Board of Education in 2004, representing the private school sector. Mr. Schuster retired, also in 2004, after 36 years as a secondary school educator. For 22 years until retirement he was principal of John F. Kennedy Memorial High School in the Archdiocese of Seattle. He also served as principal of Tahoma Senior High School in Maple Valley, Washington, and as a teacher and vice-principal at Burlington-Edison High School in Burlington, Washington.

In 1999-2000, Mr. Schuster became the first private high school principal to serve as president of the Washington Association of Secondary School Principals. In 2003, he was elected president of the parent organization, the Association of Washington School Principals. His focus during those years was to provide principals with professional development that would help move their schools to a standards-based environment while maintaining balance in their personal lives.  As president, he was also able to visit principals and their schools in Japan and Germany.

Mr. Schuster has also volunteered with the National Catholic Education Association as a Regional Associate, the Washington Federation of Independent Schools and as a District Board member with the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.

In 1989, Mr. Schuster was selected High School Principal of the Year by the Washington Library Media Association and in 2004, received the Sister Mary Taylor Award from the Archdiocese of Seattle for outstanding service to Catholic Schools. In 2007, he received the Columbia Award from the Washington Federation of Independent Schools for strengthening education for all of Washington's children. He is a native of Spokane, Washington and a graduate of St Aloysius and Gonzaga Prep schools. He attended Gonzaga University; received a bachelor’s degree in history from Eastern Washington State; a master’s in education administration from Western Washington State; and a continuing principal’s certification from the University of Washington. He and his wife, Gini, also a retired educator, have three children and five grandchildren.

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Dr. Kristina Mayer
Port Townsend (Governor appointed)

Kristina Mayer, Ed. D., is a specialist in the fields of philanthropy and education. She leads the KLMayer Consulting Group, providing leadership and management strategies for nonprofit organizations and foundations. The firm is located in Port Townsend, Washington, near Seattle. Dr. Mayer has degrees from Seattle University, Gonzaga University, and Fielding Graduate Institute. Before launching her consulting career, she was a program officer for nearly a decade at both the Stuart Foundation and the Washington Mutual Foundation. Prior to that, she spent twenty years working in education as a school designer, teacher, and principal.

Dr. Mayer’s professional accomplishments include developing the Jefferson County Community Foundation, spearheading the Washington Initiative for National Board Certification, creating the Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession, and co-creating the Nicaragua 2001 Foundation. In addition, she has been an active member of many nonprofit organizations dedicated to improving education and supporting philanthropy. She holds emeritus memberships in Philanthropy Northwest, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, and the Association of Washington School Principals. Her recent board service includes Grantmakers for Education and Philanthropy Northwest.

Dr. Mayer is a seasoned world traveler. She recently co-created Professional Adventures to provide rich and stimulating international educational opportunities that combine adventure travel, cultural learning and the application of learning to professional practice.  Her concern for the people she has met in developing countries led her to join a Giving Circle to increase economic opportunities in Nicaragua through the use of micro-lending programs. Close to home, she has helped to create a Community Endowment Fund in the county where she lives.

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Phyllis Bunker Frank
Yakima (WSSDA Elected, Eastern WA, Position 2)

Mrs. Frank attributes her long-term commitment as a K-12 education policy maker to experience as a parent, mentor of the learning of others, and certificated speech/language pathologist. She served on the Yakima School Board (1985-97) and as president of the Washington State School Directors Association (1995). Mrs. Frank has been affiliated with education reform in Washington since its inception, with the Governor's Council on Education Reform and Funding Learning's Outcomes and Assessment Subcommittee. She was the vice chair of the Goals 2000 Education Improvement Coordinating Council, and a member of the Certificate of Mastery Subcommittee of the State Board. She has a B.S. and M.S. in speech and language pathology from the University of Michigan, with additional study at the University of Washington.

Mrs. Frank's early policy work centered on school, family, and community partnerships as measurable, observable and necessary to successful K-12 education. The work resulted in rewriting model policy and publication of a tool kit for school-family-community partnerships. She is an active proponent of modifying the academic calendar year to offer effective, equitable and efficient use of time to support the learning needs of all children. Mrs. Frank served as chair of the Professional Development & Certification committee, and as liaison to the Professional Education Standards Board.

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Randy Dorn
Superintendent (Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction)

A lifelong resident of Washington state, Randy Dorn is an experienced educator and dedicated public servant committed to creating world-class schools for all of our children.

Dorn has spent much of his career in education. He received a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Idaho and a master’s degree in education from Pacific Lutheran University. He taught at elementary and middle schools and served as elementary and a high school principal.

For seven years he served in the state House of Representatives and was a key sponsor of the Education Reform Bill. As a state representative, Dorn chaired the K-12 House Education Committee and was a member of the Appropriations Committee. His honors include the President’s Award from the Association of Washington State School Principals and the Golden Gavel from the Washington Association of School Administrators.

In 1999, Dorn became executive director of Public School Employees of Washington, the second largest educational employee’s organization in Washington state.

Dorn and his wife, Kaye, live in Eatonville and have three grown sons. The commitment to education runs deep in Randy’s family: one son is a teacher and one is training to become one.

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Dr. Sheila Fox
Bellingham (Governor Appointed)

Appointed by Governor Gregoire, Dr. Fox is currently the Director of University-School Partnerships for the Woodring College of Education at Western Washington University where she directs the Professional Certificate and the National Board Certification programs.

She has K-12 teaching experience and has been a teacher educator at WWU for almost 30 years. Her Ph.D. from the University of Washington is in special education with an emphasis on applied behavior analysis and formative evaluation.

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Dr. Steve Dal Porto
Quincy (WSSDA Elected, Eastern WA, Position 1)

Dr. Dal Porto was elected to the State Board of Education by Eastern Washington school board members after he retired as a school superintendent in July 2005. He has been directly involved in the education of Washington public school students for 33 years as an elementary, junior high, and high school teacher; an elementary and junior high school principal; an assistant superintendent with duties in curriculum development, professional development, and business management; and as superintendent of schools.

He graduated from the University of Puget Sound with a B.A. in English and history before he entered the U.S. Air Force. After his military service, he entered teaching and subsequently earned his Masters Degree from Eastern Washington University. In 1993 he earned his doctorate from Washington State University. He is a former member of the EWU Principal Professional Education program unit and has served as the Washington Association of School Administrator’s representative to Gonzaga University’s Professional Educator’s Evaluation Board.

He served as Chairman of the WASA Small Schools Committee for two years and was a small school representative to WASA’s Ample School Funding committee. As a school superintendent for nine years, Dr. Dal Porto worked with school boards to develop and implement policy at the local level, providing guidance and advice to board members regarding legislative, budget, and student achievement issues.

While in education, Dr. Dal Porto continued his military affiliation with the Washington Air National Guard and the U.S. Air Force, retiring as a Colonel in 1999. He is married to Danna, a retired high school art teacher. They have one daughter.

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Connie Fletcher
Issaquah (WSSDA Representative via Appointment)

Connie Fletcher was appointed to the Board in September 2009.

Ms. Fletcher comes to the Board with significant experience in educational leadership and policy. Before joining the Board, Ms. Fletcher spent 16 years as part of the Issaquah School Board, serving as both president and legislative representative.

From 2000-2003, Ms. Fletcher served as an officer in the Washington State School Directors' Association. In addition to leading WSSDA as president, she chaired WSSDA's Achievement Gap Task Force.

Ms. Fletcher and her husband, Jim, have four grown children and three grandchildren, and reside in May Valley, south of Issaquah.

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Anna Laura Kastama
Tacoma, Student (Western Washington)

Ms. Kastama is a sophomore student leader at the Tacoma School of the Arts.  Her involvement in ASB, theater arts, Co-Chair of Puget Sound Juniorettes, and the robotics and science teams is reflective of her diverse interests.  Anna Laura is committed to community service and trusts that the perspectives she brings to the Board's work will be reflective of students and her community's best interest. 

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Austianna Quick
Oroville, Student Representative (Eastern Washington)

Ms. Quick is a junior at Oroville High School and lives with her parents and two siblings in Oroville, Washington. She is very involved with sports, including volleyball, basketball, and track and field, as well as other curricular activities. Ms. Quick says her "passion is music" and she plays the piano, the flute, and also sings in the All Girls Choir. She has received much of her experience in business and politics by being involved in Future Business Leaders of America and as a page in Olympia. Ms. Quick enjoys spending time with her family and friends and loves to travel.

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Board Staff

1. Edie Harding
2. Kathe Taylor
3. Brad Burnham
4. Loy McColm
5. Ashley Harris
6. Aaron Wyatt

Edie Harding
Executive Director

Edie joined the SBE on 8/15/06. Previously she was the director of government relations and policy at The Evergreen State College. She has also worked as project manager for education research with the Washington State Institute for Public Policy, a fiscal analyst with Washington Legislature, a Presidential Management Intern at the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services. She served on the Olympia School Board for six years.

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Kathe Taylor, Ph.D.
Policy Director

Kathe joined the SBE on 2/1/07. She has worked in education for 30 years, where she has taught high school, undergraduate and graduate students. In 1998 she wrote a book with Sherry Walton called, Children at the Center:  A Workshop Approach to Standardized Test Preparation. Taylor was directing the GEAR UP grant project at The Evergreen State College.

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Brad Burnham
Policy and Legislative Specialist

Brad joined the SBE on 8/2/07. He has taught and written about science topics for 16 years. He has been an instructor at museums, aquariums, and nature centers; a lecturer at a community college, and has written children’s books. He previously worked at The Evergreen State College, in the GEAR UP program, helping middle and high school students learn about and get ready for college.

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Loy McColm
Executive Assistant

Loy joined the SBE on 4/2/07. Prior to SBE, she held lead administrative support positions, including Executive Assistant to the Secretary at the Department of Corrections for 10 years. Prior to coming to state government she was a small business owner in Olympia for 15 years.

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Ashley Harris
Administrative Assistant 3

Ashley joined the SBE on 8/7/07. Prior to SBE, she served 4 years in the U.S. Army as a Medical Logistics Specialist. She went to basic training in Ft. Jackson, SC and then completed her AIT training in Ft. Sam Houston, TX. Her duty stations included Korea, Qatar and Washington State.

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Aaron Wyatt
Communications

Aaron joined the Board on 1/16/09 as a communications specialist. In 2008, Aaron worked for the Office of the Secretary of State as a voter education and outreach coordinator. After college, Aaron worked for thirteen years as a high school English teacher.

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