Many chalkboard champions have gone on to serve their communities as politicians. One such individual is Elaine Kontominas Alquist.

Elaine Alquist was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 21, 1944. She earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics from MacMurray College, Illinois, in 1966, and her master’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1967. She was employed as a teacher of algebra and trigonometry, and also worked as a school counselor in Chicago public schools. In 1981 she was elected PTA president, and in 1983 she served eight years as first a member and then the president of the Cupertino Union School District Board of Education. During her tenure there, Elaine initiated the district’s Disaster Preparedness Plan and helped to develop the district’s first Strategic Long Range Plan for the district’s 12,000 students.

In 1996 Elaine became the first Greek American woman elected to the California State Legislature. She was re-elected to two consecutive terms in 1998 and 2000. In the legislature, she made made it a priority to fight for improved health care for Californians, co-authoring Healthy Families legislation that extended health coverage for California’s uninsured children.

As a former high school math teacher, guidance counselor, school board member, and member of the California Post Secondary Education Commission, Elaine has been  recognized by her peers  in the legislature as an expert on education policy. She has dedicated herself to improving students’ math skills, authoring legislation that provided $28 million for staff development of mathematics teachers over the last two fiscal years. Currently, she is working on legislation to improve the funding for California’s students and to provide tax incentives for vocational programs and life-long learning through her Graduate Education Opportunity Act legislation.

Elaine Alquist was elected to the California State Senate in November 2004 and is currently serving as State Senator for District 13. She was re-elected to a second term in 2008. Her final term ended in 2012.