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In final weeks until the March 5th  

Primary, assembly hopefuls reveal what  

sets them apart 

Though housing and energy are the pressure points in California politics education appears to be the key. And in the bid for the 14th district assembly seat all three candidates are promoting themselves as “the education candidate.”  

With only a few weeks left until the March 5th primary, the two major candidates appear to be running neck and neck — with West Contra Costa school district board member Charles Ramsey’s headquarters optimistic about Richmond and former Berkeley Mayor Loni Hancock placing her hopes on old stomping grounds.  

The third candidate in this race is Dave Brown, a political analyst, who as a former public school teacher, has his own personal ties to education. 

Educating Ramsey  

“What I bring to the race that no other candidate brings is experience with education. I have done it no one else can say that,” Ramsey said referencing his tenure with the once fiscal insolvent West Contra Cost County School District. “I have experience turning a school district around, recruiting and keeping good teachers and getting results from students,” Ramsey said. 

Last October the Academic Performance Index showed that 33 out of 50 schools in the West Contra Costa Unified School District improved their overall schoolwide numbers in 2001. 

Overall, 26 of 39 elementary schools met their schoolwide growth targets, along with three of five middle schools.