Tag Archives: Teacher Politicians

Arkansas teacher Carol Rasco once served as president’s assistant

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Former Arkansas teacher Carol Rasco has spent her entire professional life as an advocate for children, working towards improving education, promoting early literacy, and supporting children with disabilities. Photo credit: Hendrix Alumni Association.

Many excellent classroom teachers also serve in positions in the government. One of these is Carol Rasco, a former elementary teacher and school counselor that once served as an Assistant to the President under President Bill Clinton.

Carol was born on January 13, 1948, in Columbia, South Carolina. Later her family moved to DeWitt, Arkansas. As a young woman, she skipped her senior year in high school and enrolled at Hendrix College in 1965. There she first majored in Drama, although she later changed her major to Psychology. After transferring to the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Carol earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education in 1969. She earned her Master’s degree in Elementary Counseling and Psychology from the University of Central Arkansas in 1972.

Carol began her career in education as an elementary school teacher, and later became a counselor at the middle school level. After she earned her Master’s degree, she used her expertise to set up a psychological counseling program in the public school system.

In 1983, this Chalkboard Champion accepted a position in the Arkansas Governor’s Office. She served Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton in this position for ten years. Later, when Clinton was elected to the presidency, Carol followed Clinton to Washington, DC, where she worked as an Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy from 1997 to 2000. She spent the next four years in the US Department of Education in the America Reads Challenge program. During 2001, she worked as a consultant on Government Relations for The College Board, and from 2001 to 2016, she served as the President and CEO of Reading is Fundamental. For the past five years, Carol has worked as a child advocate for Three Boys with Books.

Carol has spent her entire professional life as an advocate for children, working towards improving education, promoting early literacy, and supporting children with disabilities. She is currently 73 years old.

New Mexico teacher and politician Stephanie Garcia Richard

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Former elementary school teacher Stephanie Garcia Richard served three terms in the New Mexico State House of Representatives. Photo credit: Stephanie Garcia Richard.

Many fine educators also make excellent politicians. One example of this is Stephanie Garcia Richard, a former elementary school teacher from New Mexico who served three terms in her state’s House of Representatives.

Stephanie was born in Tucumcari, New Mexico, and raised in Silver City, where she graduated from Silver High School. At a very young age, she learned the importance of serving others. Her father, a WWII veteran, was a teacher; her mother was active in their community.

After her high school graduation, Stephanie earned her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Bernard College at Columbia University in New York in 1996. She completed the requirements for her teaching credential from California State University of Los Angeles 2006.

Once she earned her degrees, Stephanie worked as a teacher at a number of charter schools in New Mexico. From 2009 to 2012, she was employed as a third grade teacher at Pablo Royal Elementary School in Pojoaque. She’s also taught in Ohkay Owingeh, Española, California, and from 2000 to 2004, she was a teacher in Korea.

In 2012, Stephanie was elected on the Democratic ticket to represent District 43 in the New Mexico House of Representatives. The District includes parts of Los Alamos, Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, and Sandoval counties. She served three terms in the House, from 2013 to 2017. While there, she championed laws to increase access to a quality education, transparency, and investments in renewable energy, job training, and economic development. She served was the Chair of the Education Committee and the Committee for Appropriations and Finance. Currently, Stephanie is the Commissioner of Public Lands for her home state. She assumed office on January 1, 2019, and her term will end on January 1, 2023. Stephanie is the first woman, the first Latina, and the first educator to serve in the position as New Mexico’s Commissioner of Public Lands.

Teacher Lorna Herseth served as SD First Lady, Secretary of State

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South Dakota teacher Lorna Herseth served as her state’s First Lady, and later as the South Dakota Secretary of State. Photo credit: G.A. Miller.

Many fine classroom teachers have also served as excellent politicians. This is certainly true of Lorna Buntrock Herseth, a teacher and politician from South Dakota.

Lorna Buntrock was born in Columbia, South Dakota, on April 5, 1909, the youngest of 11 children born to immigrants from Germany. As a young woman, she attended Northern State Teachers College in Aberdeen, South Dakota, where she earned both her Bachelor’s degree and her teaching credential.

Once she completed her education, Lorna taught in public schools in Brown County. In 1936. she was elected to the position of Brown County Superintendent of Schools. She later served on the Selby School Board. She taught in both rural and urban schools around the state.

In 1937, Lorna married her college sweetheart, Ralph Herseth, after having dated for many years. The couple farmed a ranch on the east side of Sand Lake near the town of Houghton for nearly 30 years. On this farm they raised wheat, corn, and Aberdeen Angus cattle. During these years, Ralph served as a South Dakota State Senator and in 1958-1960, was South Dakota’s 21st Governor and Lorna served as the state’s First Lady from 1959 to 1961. While Ralph was Governor, the first state-wide teachers’ retirement benefit program was established.

After Ralph’s death in 1969, Lorna continued her career in politics when she was elected on the Democratic ticket to serve as the South Dakota Secretary of State. She served two terms in this position, from 1973 to 1979. As if all this were not enough, Lorna also served on the Board of Directors for the Brown County Red Cross. She also served as the State Director of the Easter Seal Society.

Lorna passed away on September 8, 1994, at the age of 85. She is interred in Houghton Cemetery in Brown County, South Dakota.

 

NJ’s Carole Graves: Teacher, labor leader, and politician

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Retired Special Education teacher, labor leader, and politician Carole Graves of New Jersey labored during the Civil Rights Movement to improve working conditions for her fellow teachers. Photo credit: Ballotpedia.

There are many fine educators in our country who have labored diligently to improve the lives of others, not only the lives of their students, but also the working conditions of their colleagues. One of these is Carole Graves, a New Jersey teacher who also made great improvements for Newark public school teachers.

Carole was born on April 15, 1938, in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey. After her graduation from Arts High School in her home town, she enrolled at Newark State Teachers College, where she earned her degree in 1960. After college, Carole, accepted a position as a special education teacher at the Dayton Street School in Newark.  Later she earned a certificate in Labor and Management Relations from New Brunswick.

In 1971, Carole gained national recognition when she led the Newark teachers in a highly controversial strike that lasted 13 weeks. During the job action, over 200 teachers were jailed, and Carole herself served six months in the Essex County Jail. Her sacrifice was not in vain. The contract settlement that resulted in her efforts contained unprecedented contract gains, recognition of teachers’ rights, and improved working conditions for teachers, aides, and clerks in the Newark Public Schools. Carole went on to serve as the full-time President of the Newark Teachers Union, a position she held for 27 years.

Once she completed her work for the teachers’ union, Carole was elected on the Democratic ticket to serve as the Essex County Registrar of Deeds and Mortgages. She held this position for three terms, from 1995 to 2010. For a time she also served as a commissioner on the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission (PERC) and an adjunct professor of Labor Relations at Essex County College and Rutgers Institute of Labor and Management Relations.

Now 83 years old, this Chalkboard Champion currently lives in Newark.

Wyoming teacher and politician Matilda Hansen

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High school teacher Matilda Hansen also served her community in the Wyoming House of Representatives. Photo credit: Wyomingnews.com

Many fine educators have also served their community as capable politicians. One of these is Matilda Hansen, a high school teacher who also served in the Wyoming House of Representatives.

Matilda was born on September 4, 1929, near Paullina, Iowa. As a young girl, she attended one-room schools in northwest Iowa. As a teenager, she graduated from Scattergood Friends High School in 1948.

After her high school graduation, Matilda earned her Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 1963. She earned her Master’s degree in Geography from the University of Wyoming in 1970. She then taught high school at Englewood High School in Colorado from 1963 to 1965, and served as the Director of the Albany County Adult Learning Center in Laramie, Wyoming, from 1966 to 1978.

Later, Matilda was elected on the Democratic ticket to represent District 13, Albany County, in the Wyoming House of Representatives. She served there from 1975 to 1995. While there, she served on various committees, including Juvenile Affairs; Children, Families, and Social Services; Health and Human Resources; Rules; Judiciary; Administrative Rules; Lien Laws; and Appropriations. Matilda’s most notable legislative work addressed education and women’s issues. In addition, she was the driving force for the creation of the Wyoming Territorial Park in Laramie, Wyoming. She was the first woman to serve 20 consecutive years in the House, completing her term as Assistant Minority Floor Leader in 1994.

For her work in the classroom and in the community, Matilda earned several accolades. In 1963, she was named a General Electric Fellow in Economics for High School Teachers. She also garnered the award for Public Citizen of Year by the Wyoming Association Social Workers for 1980-1981.

This Chalkboard Champion passed away on August 19, 2019, in Laramie, Wyoming, at the age of 89.