Vicki L. Barber was elected as El Dorado County Superintendent of Schools in 1994. She is a past president of CCSESA (California County Superintendents Educational Services Association) and currently serves on its Board. She has taken a leadership role on the Public Schools Accountability Act Advisory Committee and chairs the Sub-Committee on Alternative Schools Accountability Model. She was appointed by the State Board of Education to the statewide Advisory Commission on Charter Schools. Barber is a Commission member of First 5 El Dorado and serves on the Boards of the El Dorado County JOB ONE and the El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce. She has been recognized as Superintendent of the Year in 2005 by the Association of California School Administrators in Region 2, and statewide by the Small School Districts’ Association in 2006.

Rae Belisle is the President and CEO of EdVoice and member of the State Board of Education. Prior to joining EdVoice, she served as the General Counsel for the Sacramento County Office of Education. Previously she served as Executive Director of the California State Board of Education; Associate General Counsel and Government Relations Team Leader for the Los Angeles Unified School District; Chief Counsel to California’s State Board of Education, and Senior Consultant to the California State Assembly Committee on Higher Education. Belisle practiced for several years with a local law firm specializing in business litigation. Belisle has served as California’s representative to the national rulemaking panel that developed the federal regulations for assessment and accountability provisions of NCLB. In addition to her role at EdVoice, Belisle currently serves as the Chair of the Advisory Commission on Charter Schools.

Davis Campbell currently serves as President for the California School Boards Association Governance Institute. He is a Senior Fellow at the University of California, Davis School of Education; an elected Trustee on the Yolo County Board of Education; and maintains an active consulting practice in effective governance. He serves on a number of state-level boards in public education including EdSource (President, 2007–09); the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning (founding Chairperson); The Stuart Foundation; the Special District Leadership Foundation; The California Institute for School Improvement; and CCS, the Cities, Counties, Schools Partnership (founding board member). He also serves as a Commissioner for the Yolo County Aging and Adult Services Commission and is a member of the Board of Advisors for the UCD School of Education. 

Carl A. Cohn is Clinical Professor of Urban School Leadership at Claremont Graduate University. Most recently, he served as Superintendent of Schools in San Diego Unified School District. Before that, he worked as Clinical Professor at the University of Southern California and Federal Court monitor for the special education consent decree in the Los Angeles school system. From 1992-2002, he headed the Long Beach Unified School District, where his tenure culminated with his winning the McGraw Prize in 2002 and the district winning the Broad Prize in 2003. Cohn has worked as a faculty advisor for both the Broad Superintendents Academy and the Harvard Urban Superintendents Program. He serves on numerous boards, including the American College Testing, Inc. (ACT), the Freedom Writers Foundation, EdSource, Classics for Kids, and the City of San Diego Commission on Gang Prevention and Intervention. 

Kenneth Hall is Executive in Residence at the Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California. He has served the University for more than three years as the founding Director of the School Business Management Certificate Program, which provides school business leadership training for those who serve in business positions in California public schools. He is also Founder and Chairman Emeritus of School Services of California, Inc, which he led as President and then Chairman for thirty years. He is a member of the University of Redlands Board of Trustees and he serves on the Education Advisory Committee for the Public Policy Institute of California. He also serves on the EdSource Board of Directors. Hall is a past Chief Deputy Director of the Department of Finance for the state of California.

Michael Hanson has been serving the Fresno Unified School District as Superintendent since 2005. He is responsible for leading California’s fourth largest school district and overseeing the academic performance of more than 73,000 students at 106 schools, as well as managing a $1 billion budget. Prior to joining Fresno Unified, Hanson served as Associate Superintendent for Elk Grove Unified School District in Sacramento County. He is a Central Valley native who grew up in Dos Palos. He is proud to call Fresno his home, where he resides with his wife and three young children—two of whom are of school age and attend Fresno schools.

Joel Montero is the Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Crisis & Management Assistance Team (FCMAT). He is a participating member of the statewide Professional Development Committee of the California Association of School Business Officials and of the statewide Business and Administration Steering Committee of the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association. Montero has more than 30 years of service in public sector institutions in a variety of roles. He has obtained life credentials in administrative services and secondary education. His past experience includes Superintendent of a medium-sized unified school district, assistant superintendencies in business, personnel and curriculum and instruction, principal, assistant principal, and classroom teacher.

Joe Nuñez has been the Associate Executive Director of Governmental Relations for the California Teachers Association since 2004. He served as the Assistant Executive Director of the California Teachers Association, overseeing Region 2, from 2000 to 2004 and as a Legislative Advocate for the CTA from 1997 to 2000. He has more than 30 years of experience in California education, serving as both a teacher and as an administrator for the California Teachers Association (CTA). In August 2006, he led negotiations on the terms of a $3 billion settlement for California schools that resulted in the Quality Education Investment Act (QEIA). Nuñez served on the California State Board of Education from October, 2001 until January 2007.

Jack O'Connell was elected to serve as California's 26th State superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) in November 2002. The SPI is the head of the California Department of Education (CDE), which administers state education laws, advises school districts, and collects and analyzes school data. As SPI, O’Connell has focused his efforts on accountability, rigor, and high standards for all students. Previously, he served for two decades in the California State Legislature representing the Central Coast. As the author of numerous education bills in both the Assembly and the State Senate, quality education was his number one priority. O’Connell attended California public schools through college and obtained a teaching credential from CSU. He taught at the high school in which he was a student prior to becoming a member of the Santa Barbara County School Board.
 

Stephen Rhoads is a Principal Consultant for Strategic Education Services (SES), a Sacramento-based government relations and policy consulting firm. Prior to joining SES, Rhoads served as Executive Director of the California Energy Commission for nine years and was the Undersecretary to the Governor’s Office of Child Development and Education under the Wilson Administration for three years. Rhoads has also served many years in the Legislature in a variety of capacities including Chief Consultant to Republican Assembly Member James Brulte, Staff Director for the Minority Ways and Means Committee, and Deputy Director for the Assembly Republican Caucus. From 1976 to 1979 Rhoads served as the School Finance Expert for the Legislative Budget Committee of the Legislative Analyst’s Office.

Christopher Steinhauser, Superintendent of the Long Beach Unified School District, is a long-time Long Beach resident and 26-year veteran educator in local schools. Beginning as an outstanding teacher at an inner-city elementary school in Long Beach, Steinhauser went on to attain very high student achievement as a school principal. After serving as assistant principal and principal in Long Beach schools, he worked his way up to the position of Deputy Superintendent in 1999 before his unanimous appointment as Superintendent in 2002. He is a product of the Long Beach Unified School District, where he attended continuously from kindergarten until his graduation from Wilson High School in 1977.

Mac Taylor was appointed as Legislative Analyst in October 2008, the fifth person to serve in that capacity since the office was founded in 1941. In his 30-year career with the office, he has served in various capacities, including Program Analyst, Section Head, and, for 17 years, as Deputy to the prior Analyst, Elizabeth Hill, overseeing K–12 education among several other areas. Taylor serves as the nonpartisan fiscal advisor to both houses of the California Legislature and oversees the preparation of annual fiscal and policy analyses of the state’s budget and programs. His office is also responsible for preparing impartial analyses of all initiatives and constitutional measures qualifying for the state’s ballot.