From his first elected position as School Board President where he launched the Campaign for Fiscal Equality school funding lawsuit, walked 150 miles to Albany to highlight the cause and won a court judgment that awarded $16 billion for NYC public schools, to his 12 years on the City Council where he sponsored the Small Business Survival Act and fought for fairness, justice and equality, to his overwhelming election to the State Senate, Robert Jackson has taken on the tough fights for New Yorkers … and never backed down. He knows how to get things done, and has a record to prove it. Growing up in Northern Manhattan with eight brothers and sisters, he didn’t have much, faced many obstacles and times were often tough. As a student at PS 186, he never dreamed that one day he would be a leading member of the City Council and a candidate for State Senate. It was possible through hard work, perseverance, the help of good people in the community and teachers like his track coach at Benjamin Franklin High School Irwin Goldberg, who took an interest in him, pointed him in the right direction and made sure he went to college. And that has made all the difference. That’s why he has fought so hard to knock down barriers and to make sure every child receives the best education possible.