The main reason why Pearl Quiñones is a candidate for the 79th District of the State Assembly is to secure the education of children in San Diego County, especially those living in the South Bay.

    “My principal reason for running is to restore the devastating cuts Sacramento has made to education,” Quiñones said. “Education opens the door of opportunity for our youth and adults.”

    Quiñones is a living example of that principle: She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees as a single mother struggling to raise her son, often facing the same economic adversities many working families face in the assembly district.

    “Education is the key that unlocks the doors to the American Dream for poor and Latino children and their families,” she said. “I earned my Bachelors and two Masters degrees as a single mom while working many different jobs. My life is an example of the power of education, hard work and determination.”

    Quiñones has a background similar to the Latino majority that attends the schools in the South Bay. Born in a rural community of Texas, she was the fourth child of five girls. Her father had no formal education, and her mother attended school until the seventh grade. Quiñones is only the second in her family to earn a college degree.

    “The majority of the people in the 79th District are like me. They know what it is about making sacrifices. I understand their needs and struggles, because they are same ones I have faced as a single mother.”

    She has served for 10 years on the Sweetwater Union High School District governing board, twice as president. She worked for 20 years as a dropout prevention specialist at the San Ysidro School District and has a master’s degree in public administration from San Diego State University.

    During her time on the Sweetwater school board, she has accomplished many important milestones for students and their parents, experiences that she plans to apply statewide to her job as assemblymember.

    “With a great deal of hard work and focus, we have reduced the drop-out rate and increased the numbers of graduates who go on to 4-year college,” she said. “But all of our progress is threatened by severe cutbacks in education. We have cut millions of dollars from our budget every year for the last five years. That means increased class sizes, cuts to support programs and fewer extracurricular activities. This has to stop!”

    For Quiñones the most pressing issues facing the 79th District and California are education, jobs, health care, the environment and public safety.

    “I have created solutions for each of these challenges in the Sweetwater Union High School District. I am a proven consensus builder willing to work with very diverse communities. I am an independent thinker who will not be influenced by special interests.”

    Some of the solutions she offers for creating jobs in the district are the following:

    “The most important thing to improve the economy statewide and locally is to develop jobs. There are two interrelated steps we must take to improve the economy statewide and locally. One is to pursue policies that encourage innovation, technological development, and the Green Economy. That means we may need to create incentives for businesses. At the same time, we need to fight to attract our fair share of those jobs and those research dollars for the 79th District.”

    Among her endorsements are Assemblymember Lori Saldaña, Chula Vista City Councilmember Steve Castaneda, and the Sweetwater Education Association.

    More than anything, Quiñones said she is a resident of the 79th District with a similar story to the majority of the residents in the district.

My life reflects many of the challenges and triumphs people in the 79th District have faced. That’s why I would truly represent their interests, because they are my interests. Through school, work and opportunity, I was able to succeed. In the Legislature, I will take these experiences and these values as I fight for this community.”

   Among Pearl Quiñones’s accomplishments are:

   – Fought for changes that reduced the drop-out rate.

   – Increased the numbers of Sweetwater graduates attending 4 year colleges.

   –  Started three free school based health clinics.

   – Helped lead the campaigns to raise nearly $1 billion to repair aging schools, build new schools and classrooms, and provide jobs during this terrible recession.

   – Passed a balance budget on time without laying off any teachers or classified staff.

   To learn more about Pearl Quiñones and the Tuesday, June 8, elections, visit www.pearlquinones.com.