Candidate for
Member; California State Assembly; District 35

A dedicated public servant, Bob Pohl committed himself to working with children early in his career. He has a deep-rooted belief that education is the way to provide positive results for working families, allowing them to enter the middle class and pursue the American Dream. As a young teacher, in 1971 he moved to Clarksdale, Mississippi to teach elementary school.

Shortly after his time in Mississippi, Bob moved to Los Angeles where he taught in the Headstart program in Hawaiian Gardens, and then taught in East Los Angeles while earning his Masters in Science from USC. Returning to Boston, he procured a Doctorate in Education from Boston University. Ready to put his education to work, he returned to California and became the principal of a fledgling school in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco which he turned around with astonishing success in four years. Eager to take on a new challenge, he took a 12-year hiatus from education to work with CB Commercial Real Estate in Los Angeles.

Returning to his roots in education, Bob worked for the next 14 years as an educational consultant. He was elected to the Santa Barbara Elementary School Board in 1996 where he served one term as President and Trustee. His tenure on the Board is viewed as ahead of its time and many of the reforms were later implemented statewide. With his leadership, Santa Barbara elementary schools created innovative programs and tough standards to ensure children are able to read and write English--producing significant improvements in student learning, as measured on standardized tests.

While on the Board, he was the Designer of the Santa Barbara Community Academy--a public school of choice that serves a diverse student population and focuses on a core curriculum that assumes students will flourish when given the chance to succeed.

Bob Pohl is now an education consultant in private practice where he works with schools throughout the state of California and the nation to develop strategic plans to increase student performance. In the past two years he's worked with numerous schools to help thousands of students improve their test scores. He also serves as the Director of Strategic Planning for the UCSB Gevirtz School of Educational where he is designing a K-12 leadership institute.

In the State Assembly, Bob will draw upon his experiences in education and business to be an advocate for the children of working families. He'll make ensure every Californian has access to a quality public education that will prepare them for the workforce by teaching them to read and write, as well as mathematics, science and computer skills.

Bob holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Notre Dame, a Master of Science in Education from the University of Southern California, and a Doctorate of Education from Boston University. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Public Education Foundation Board; the UCSB Gevirtz School of Educational Leadership Council; Zona Seca; and for the Museum of Art Education Committee.

He and his wife Susan live in Santa Barbara with their two daughters, Olivia and Caitlin. Susan is the author of Greatness of Girls a book for young women relaying the experiences of famous women while growing up.