Cristine Soto's Biography

By Cristine M Soto

As a former public school teacher and now an attorney in Pasadena's Juvenile Court, I know there are many components to a quality education. We need innovative teachers, a responsive administration and an involved community along with motivated students who believe in themselves. These are the elements that made my success possible and this is the formula that I believe will work for the students of our District.

Excellent, effective and efficient results do not require more money, they require leadership. Accountability starts with those at the top. I hold myself, as you should hold me, to a high standard. I will hold our students to excellent academic performance, teachers to superior teaching, and administrators to effective and efficient management. This is what I will bring to the Board - a new attitude and a new ethic. I will be accountable to you; that is my commitment.

Cristine Soto was born in Guatemala City, Guatemala and arrived in the United States at the age of five with her mother, Alice Witte. She graduated cum laude from UCLA and earned her Juris Doctorate from UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law. While at UCLA, Cristine served as Program director for Barrio Youth Alternative in South Central Los Angeles where she developed educational and motivational prgramming for high school students and their parents. After graduation she taught English at a public continuation school in downtown Los Angeles. During law school, Cristine clerked with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the State Public Defender's Office and the Federal Public Defender's Officer. Upon her graduation from law school, Cristine was presented with the Francine Diaz award by the Boalt Hall faculty for her dedication to public service. She is a Pasadena resident who knows firsthand the difficult issues facing our youth and their families. As an immigrant student educated in public schools from elementary through graduate school, Cristine also knows the transformative value of a public school education.