Daughter of Ben Wattenberg. Ruth Wattenberg was elected sa the Ward 3 member of the D.C. State Board of Education in November 2014 and re-elected in November 2018. In January 2019, Ms. Wattenberg was elected by Board members to serve as President. She was the chair of Deal's Local School Restructuring Team, in 2009-2010, the first year that Deal enrolled 6th graders and a pivotal year in its transformation. Before that, she chaired Janney's Spanish committee, which brought Spanish instruction to Janney. Most recently (and currently), Ruth hasworked as an education policy consultant, conducting evaluation and research projects in support of high academic standards and a curriculum rich in history-social studies, science, and the arts. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Core Knowledge Foundation, a national organization that advocates for a curriculum rich in history, geography, science, and the arts, starting at the youngest ages. For many years, Ruth worked at the American Federation of Teachers, as the director of AFT's educational issues department and as editor of American Educator, itsquarterlymagazine on educational issues. Inthoseroles, she workedon many issues, including the importance of background knowledge and vocabulary for reading; testing and accountability; evidence-based education reform; teaching quali- ty; how studentslearn; and fixing low-performing schools.