Beginning in 1973, Ventura County began recognizing outstanding teachers. The program results in the annual selection of one teacher countywide who reflects the diversity of our teachers and students. The process pays tribute to Ventura County's teaching force, the complexity of challenges that confront our schools, and the need to promote collaboration and teamwork to meet those challenges.

The purpose of the Teachers of the Year Program is to pay tribute to the tireless efforts of our county's outstanding teachers. In doing so, the program brings deserved recognition to the hard working, innovative members of the teaching profession.

Eligibility to the Ventura County Educator of the Year Program is limited to candidates who have been submitted to the Ventura County Office of Education by a school district, charter school, private school, or professional organization and that meet any of the following criteria: Fully credentialed teachers in public or private schools who teach any of pre-kindergarten through grade twelve; Library media teachers who collaboratively plan and teach with classroom teachers; Teachers of adults who provide instruction in the same curriculum as those who teach in elementary or secondary grades; Instructors who have some administrative responsibilities for whom teaching is the applicant's primary responsibility.

Ventura county educators have enjoyed tremendous success at the state level.