Sacramento, CA – Today Senator Ben Allen (D – Santa Monica) received the 2015 Legislator of the Year Award from the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA).  Senator Richard Pan (D – Sacramento) also received the Legislator of the Year Award from the group.  The two senators were honored for their authorship of last year’s historic legislation, SB 277, which closed a loophole by which thousands of children were attending California schools without the proper vaccinations.

“I am honored to be acknowledged by the county superintendents for our work in strengthening California’s vaccine laws so that all children can attend school without fear of contracting a potentially fatal, vaccine-preventable disease,” Senator Allen said.

Allen serves as one of three Senators on the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Education, which oversees funding for the K-12 and higher education systems.  Prior to his election to the Senate in 2014, Allen was a member of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) for seven years.  SMMUSD had one of the highest rates of unvaccinated students in the state.

The California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA) is an organization comprised of the 58 county school superintendents.  The group provides support to school districts in student services, curriculum and instructional services, fiscal accountability and business services, and technology and telecommunications.  CCSESA advocates on behalf of K-12 and early childhood education at state and federal levels, and develops and coordinates statewide training to implement new responsibilities of county superintendents to ensure consistent statewide application and standards.

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