The California Federation of Teachers and the California Teachers Association both support Mark Leno for State Senate:

"Assemblyman Mark Leno's voice in the Assembly has proven invaluable to teachers and students throughout California," said David A. Sanchez, President of the California Teachers Association. "CTA supports Mark Leno for State Senate because he has consistently made our students, school and public education a top priority."
 
"Our schools and colleges need more leaders like Mark Leno in the legislature," said Marty Hittelman, President of the California Federation of Teachers. "While in the Assembly, Leno has been a tenacious advocate for our education systems— fighting hard for more resources, and not settling for less.  CFT applauds Leno's record in the Assembly, and we are proud to support him for State Senate."

We must return California’s schools to being the best in the country as they were for previous generations of Californians. One of the biggest challenges we must address is how best to elevate the educational attainment of students throughout our Golden State to compete in a global economy. California’s leaders of tomorrow cannot reach their full potential in overcrowded classrooms led by fewer teachers with limited instructional materials. The situation in our K-12 schools is further compounded by inadequate access to affordable higher education.
The revitalization of California’s education system is essential to our state’s future. Education must be a policy and budget priority; we must stop balancing the state budget on the backs of our children. We must ensure our schools have the financial resources to retain smart, innovative teachers and keep them from leaving for better-paying jobs by valuing our teachers as the highly-trained professionals they are. We have to build partnerships with parents and guardians to educate our children and provide the support and resources they need to help make their kids successful in school.
 
Education continues to be at the top of my agenda in the Legislature, and I have authored numerous bills targeted to support the most vulnerable of our school-age population. Specifically, I have authored AB 1482 –Increased Supplemental Instructional Funding, AB 1578 – Foster Youth Higher Education Preparation and Support Act of 2007, AB 2489 – Higher Education for Foster Youth 2006, and AB 1261 – Improving Foster Youth Educational Outcomes. You can see my speech to the Assembly Education committee about AB 1578 at youtube here. These bills secure additional funding for at-risk and low-achieving students, ensure California’s foster youth receive academic preparation and financial assistance, and help schools deliver effective instruction to students overcoming significant academic attainment hurdles.
 
I am committed to increasing the educational attainment of all students in California. We must ensure our children have every opportunity to compete and succeed in a global economy as their future is also ours.
 
Here is a sample of some of the education bills I am currently working on in the state Assembly. I've also listed past legislation from previous years. For a complete review of my state legislative record, please visit http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html.
 
2007
AB 1382: Improving Access to Food Stamps Current law requires all applicants to the Food Stamp program to submit electronic fingerprints and photographs in order to obtain Food Stamps for themselves and their families. AB 1382 seeks to remove the fingerprinting requirement, eliminating what is widely regarded as an expensive, unnecessary barrier to low income families putting healthy food on their tables.
AB 1472: California Healthy Places Act of 2007 This bill would require state agencies to work together to address how urban development impacts the health of our communities, with special focus on children. Attention will be given to new policies that support childhood development, prevent injury, illness and chronic disease, and ensure environmental health as our communities grow.
AB 1482: Supplemental Instruction Funding This bill would enable public and charter schools to assist at-risk and low-achieving students with the state’s High School Exit Exam and graduation requirements by providing more flexibility in the use supplement instruction (SI) funding. By removing the restriction on the use SI funding to only non-school hours and eliminating other administrative burdens, this bill will help schools deliver more effective instructional services students need to overcome academic hurdles.
AB 1578: Foster Youth Higher Education Preparation and Support Act of 2007 This is a comprehensive bill to ensure that California foster youth receive the academic preparation, financial assistance and the campus-based support services they need to access and succeed in higher education.
 
2006
AB 2781: Fair Child Support Collection Practices AB 2781 would prohibit a private child support collector from engaging in any debt collection practices that are prohibited by the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. It would also provide consumers with the option to opt out of a contract under specified circumstances.
AB 2488: Re-establishing Foster Youth Sibling Connections AB 2488 establishes a process for reconnecting siblings that have been separated by adoption. By using a court-appointed confidential intermediary, the bill would eliminate the need for both siblings to independently file confidentiality waivers in order to reconnect with one another, and reduces the age when they may do so from 21 to 18.
AB 2489: Higher Education for Foster Youth This is a comprehensive bill to ensure that California foster youth receive the academic preparation, financial assistance and the campus-based support services they need to access and succeed in higher education.
 
2005
AB 519: Reinstating Parental Rights for Legal Orphans In cases of child abuse or neglect, existing law sets timeframes in which parents must make substantial progress in meeting the requirements of their family reunification plan or face termination of parental rights, thereby freeing the child for adoption. This bill allows the court to reinstate parental rights upon petition by the child or the child’s attorney only if, after three years past the termination of parental rights, the child still has not been adopted, and reinstatement of parental rights is found to be in the best interests of the child.
AB 1261: Improving Foster Youth Educational Outcomes This bill clarifies legislative intent and makes technical corrections to a landmark 2003 legislation that promotes better educational outcomes for foster youth.
 
2004
AB 2674: Adoption Relinquishment Time Line This measure would ensure that the filing of relinquishment papers is binding two business days after certified receipt by the Department of Social Services (DSS). Currently, the process often takes more than 30 days, forcing parents and their prospective adoptive children to wait unnecessarily.
 
2003
AB 942: Emergency Services for Children's Diabetes This bill would require that if a school nurse is not present, designated school personnel may help administer emergency assistance to a diabetic student. The bill would also allow students to monitor their blood glucose level or self-administer insulin in the school or any area of the school grounds.