Former Special Education teacher Elizabeth Warren, now serving as a US Senator from Massachusetts. She’s also a candidate for president.

Many people who are paying attention to the upcoming presidential election may be surprised to learn that one of the candidates was once a Special Education teacher. The candidate I am speaking of is Elizabeth Warren, who in addition to serving as a US Senator from Massachusetts, is also running for president.

Elizabeth was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on June 22, 1949. She is the fourth child and only daughter of a middle-class salesman and a homemaker. At her political rallies, Elizabeth tells audiences she was in the second grade when she decided to become a teacher. Unfortunately, when young Elizabeth was only 12 years old, her father was debilitated by a heart attack. Then her mother had to take a minimum-wage job to support the family. Her mother was able to save the home they lived in from repossession, but there was no money left over for college tuition.

When she was a teenager, Elizabeth attended Northwest Classen High School in Oklahoma City. While there, she excelled at debate. Her exceptional skills earned her a state championship and a scholarship to George Washington University. At the time she was only 16 years old. After one year of study, she dropped out of college to marry her high school sweetheart. Later she completed her degree at the University of Houston, a commuter college in Texas. There Elizabeth earned a Bachelor’s degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology in 1970.

Once she earned her diploma, Elizabeth inaugurated her career as an educator when she accepted a position teaching children with special needs at a public elementary school. She lost her job at the end of her first year when her principal learned she was pregnant.

Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, back in the days when she was a teacher.

After moving to New Jersey, Elizabeth returned to college to earn a law degree. She graduated with her Juris Doctorate from Rutgers Law School at Rutgers University, Newark, in 1976. But she never lost her love for the classroom. She became a college law professor, instructing courses at a variety of institutions of higher learning, including Rutgers, the University of Houston, University of Texas at Austin, University of Michigan, University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard University. She taught classes on commercial law, contracts, and bankruptcy. In fact, Elizabeth is ranked one of the nation’s top experts on the effects of financial pressures faced by middle class families.

In 2012, Elizabeth was elected on the Democratic ticket to represent Massachusetts in the US Senate. She has served in this capacity since 2013. In the Senate, she is a member of the Special Committee on Aging; the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee; and the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. In 2019, the former Special Education teacher announced her candidacy for the 2020 US presidential election.

To read more about the life story of this chalkboard champion, you can examine her website at Elizabeth Warren.