Mr. Benjamin Austin
Contact:
State Board of Education
1430 N Street, Room 5111
Sacramento, CA 95814
Took Office: April 24, 2010
Term Expires: January 15, 2014
Ben, a proud parent of two young daughters, has served as the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Parents Union since April 2008. He has dedicated much of his career to fighting for a California where every child can get a great public education. Prior to joining the Parents Union and launching the Parent Revolution campaign, he directed the successful campaign to transform Locke High School from the worst high school in Los Angeles into a college preparatory model of reform. Ben has also served as a Deputy Mayor under Mayor Richard Riordan from 2000-2001, where he helped craft the mayor's education reform policy; as well as Senior Advisor to Rob Reiner and First 5 California from 2002-2006, where he helped create LAUP (Los Angeles Universal Preschool), a $600 million preschool program rooted in high standards, accountability and parental choice that serves 10,000 low-income children every year.
Ben has also worked on numerous Democratic presidential campaigns, served in the Clinton White House in a variety of roles, and was an early supporter of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. He is a native of Venice, California, and is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Georgetown Law School. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Tracy, and their two daughters, Fiona and Eloise. He was appointed to the State Board of Education in March 2010.