Update: Not only have all the county school superintendents endorsed Hannah-Beth Jackson, but so have the Ventura County Star and the Los Angeles Times, along with the Ventura County Reporter and Santa Barbara Independent (the newspaper with the greatest circulation in Santa Barbara County.)

From the Ventura County Star: "The Star endorses Hannah-Beth Jackson based on her superior record of achievement in the Assembly and her ideas for moving the state forward."

From the Los Angeles Times: "The Times has no problem making its choice. We wholeheartedly back Jackson. The environmental and education credentials she built up as a member of the Assembly will be put to good use in the Senate, and we're counting on her to help work through California's budget mess."

IN AN UNPRECEDENTED SHOW of support, all 19 of Ventura County's school superintendents have endorsed State Senate District 19 candidate Hannah-Beth Jackson. The announcement was made at a press conference held at the Ventura County Superintendent of Schools Office on Monday.

"She has walked the talk consistently in the eyes of the superintendents of this county," Ventura Unified School District Superintendent Trudy Arriaga said. "We know that the health and well being of this nation is based on how well our children are doing. Hannah-Beth Jackson has most certainly shown that she also understands that and cares consistently about the education and well being of the children of this state."

A county-wide endorsement of this nature has never been done for a candidate before, Arriaga said. It demonstrates the incredible support Jackson has within the education community.

As her constituent when she was in the Assembly, I often saw Jackson at local school events and she is also a long-time member of the Ventura Education Partnership's honorary board. She authored legislation to give teachers a tax credit to help with their numerous out-of-pocket expenses and, as I mentioned in an earlier entry, she passed several pieces of legislation to help keep students safe. She has widespread support from school boards across the district and has won numerous awards from the education community.

Her opponent in the race, Tony Strickland, has received very few endorsements from the education community.

EDUCATION IS THE CORNERSTONE of all Jackson's stump speeches in this race and she correctly points out it is one of the keys to building our economy.

"We need to make sure we're giving students a 21st century education because they're going to be competing in a global marketplace," Jackson said. "And if we educate our children properly we're going to be able to reduce the number of young people who end up in a life of crime. We spend $45,000 a year incarcerating people in prison; we spend $7,800 educating them. This is wrong and we need to do better."

Debbie Golden, Ventura Unified School District Board of Trustees member, had high praise for our local legislator.

"When Hannah-Beth was in the Assembly, I had reason to call many times and ask for help. She always returned my calls. Not only would she return my calls, she would work with us so that we could make sure we were doing the best for the children of our community. That's just one reason why all five board members of the Ventura Unified School District are supporting Hannah-Beth Jackson," Golden said.

"I also called Mr. Strickland's phone many times. He never returned my phone calls."