Mari Barke

'Since 2016 Mari has spent a lot of time doing community work to discover what her next chapter might look like. While volunteering at a non-partisan California think tank, she discovered a passionfor education. Mari wanted to make sure that every child in Orange County had the same educational choices that her children enjoyed. She became very interested in public charter schools, parent unions and parental choice. Mari believes that every child deserves access to a great education, and they should be able to choose whether they want to attend a traditional public school, a public charter school, a private school or be homeschooled. Every child is unique and therefore should have choices. She feels parents and family members are in the best position to decide what is best for their children. She started helping the Parent Unions in Santa Ana by teaching ESL to adults and supporting their events. At about the same time Mari decided she could really make a big impact on Education in Orange County by running for the Orange County Board of Education."