Gary K. Hart
Gary K. Hart (born 1943) is an American politician and education activist in southern California.
Early life and education
He was born August 13, 1943 in San Diego, California, and graduated from Santa Barbara High School. He entered Stanford University on a football scholarship, spent six months based in Florence under Stanford's auspices, and graduated in history in 1965. He earned an M.A. from Harvard School of Education the next year.
Political career
Running as a Democrat, he lost campaigns for the United States House of Representatives in 1970 and the California State Assembly in 1972, but won an Assembly seat in 1974, succeeding incumbent Republican Don MacGillivray, who ran unsuccessfully for the state Senate. In 1982, he ran for the state Senate and won, narrowly defeating Republican state Assemblyman Charles R. Imbrecht, whose wife would, coincidentally, go on to be a history teacher in Hart's PACE program (see below). Hart served in both houses of the Legislature for a total of 20 years, having chaired the Senate Education Committee from 1983 until his retirement in 1994. In 1988, he had made another run for Congress, but narrowly lost to Republican incumbent Bob Lagomarsino.
Honors
Hart's State Senate district included portions of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Ventura, and Los Angeles Counties. A former high school teacher and a Democrat, Hart authored a wide range of legislation on education topics, including performance-based student testing, school restructuring, charter schools, and latch key child care programs. He was voted most ethical California legislator by his peers and as such appeared on the cover of California Journal.
Retirement
After his retirement from the Legislature, he founded the California State University Institute for Education Reform, located on the CSU Sacramento campus. The Institute promotes education reform efforts aimed at improving pupil academic achievement. Hart also served as the California Secretary of Education for Governor Gray Davis from January 1999 through March 2000. His principal responsibility as Secretary for Education was helping craft and pass the Governor's 1999 education reform program. Most recently, he has created and taught in the Program in America and California Explorations (PACE), an innovative core humanities initiative at Kennedy High School in Sacramento.
| California Assembly | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John Briggs |
California State Assemblyman, 35th District 1974-1982 |
Succeeded by Jack O'Connell |
| California Senate | ||
| Preceded by Omer L. Rains |
California State Senator, 18th District 1982-1994 |
Succeeded by Jack O'Connell |