Andrea Cobb

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Andrea Cobb

Prior offices

Tacoma Public Schools school board Position 4

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Report an officeholder change

Education

Bachelor's

Willamette University

Graduate

University of Washington

Personal

Profession

Project manager

Contact

Personal website

Andrea Cobb was a member of the Tacoma Public Schools Board of Directors in Washington, representing Position 4.

Cobb ran for re-election to the Tacoma Public Schools Board of Directors to represent Position 4 in Washington. Cobb won in the general election on November 3, 2015.

Biography

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Cobb is a project manager for the Tacoma Housing Authority, a position she has held since November 2014. Prior to that role, Cobb served as a policy analyst for the Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction. Cobb earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from Willamette University and a master's degree in education policy from the University of Washington. She is currently a doctoral student in educational leadership and policy studies at the University of Washington. She has three children.

Elections

2015

See also: Tacoma Public Schools elections (2015)

Two of the five seats on the Tacoma Board of Directors were up for primary election on August 4, 2015. In the Position 2 race, incumbent Catherine Ushka and Will Jenkins Sr. defeated challengers Robert Bearden and Antonio Wyatt. Ushka defeated Jenkins in the general election on November 3, 2015. In the Position 4 race, Andrea Cobb and Alisa Regala O'Hanlon defeated David Carnahan and advanced to the general election. Cobb defeated O'Hanlon to win the Position 4 seat.

Results

Tacoma Public Schools Board of Directors, Position 4 General Election, 6-year term, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Andrea Cobb	61.6%	20,546
Alisa Regala O'Hanlon	38.4%	12,817
Write-in votes	0%	0
Total Votes		33,363
Source: Pierce County Auditor, "November 3, 2015 General Election," accessed November 13, 2015

Tacoma Public Schools Board of Directors, Position 4 Primary Election, 6-year term, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Andrea Cobb	47.4%	10,451
Alisa Regala O'Hanlon	40.8%	8,983
David Carnahan	11.3%	2,488
Write-in votes	0.49%	107
Total Votes		22,029
Source: Pierce County, Washington, "August 4, 2015 - Primary Election Pierce County Official Election Results," accessed August 20, 2015

Funding

Cobb reported $12,489.42 in contributions and $5,468.66 in expenditures to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission, which left her campaign with $7,020.76 on hand as of August 4, 2015.

Endorsements

Cobb was endorsed by the following organizations and community members:

• WEA – Tacoma Council
• The News Tribune
• Stand for Children Washington
• Pierce County Central Labor Council
• Pierce County Democrats
• Pierce County Young Democrats
• 27th, 28th and 29th legislative districts
• Karen Vialle, Tacoma School Board member
• Harold Moss and Mike Crowley, former mayors of Tacoma
• State Rep. Christine Kilduff (D-28b)
• Former State Rep. Rosa Franklin (D-29)
• Former State Rep. Larry Seaquist (D-26)
• Willie Stewart, former Tacoma School Board member
• Victoria Woodards and Anders Ibsen, Tacoma city council members
• Timothy Farrell, former Pierce County council member
• Bryan Yambe, Fife city council member

Campaign themes

Pierce County voters' pamphlet

Cobb stated the following about her campaign in the Pierce County voters' pamphlet:

“	School boards create policies that set the direction for our schools. As a Tacoma native and a parent of three boys who attend Tacoma schools, I am running for this position because I am invested in ensuring that our schools continue to move in the right direction. In recent years, our district has made progress toward increasing the graduation rate, closing achievement gaps, and providing students with innovative school options, but there is still hard work ahead. We have to find ways to engage each student, and to make sure our students come to school ready to learn. We have to partner with our families in our efforts to increase student success, and we have to prioritize the professional growth and development of our educators so that they can rise to the challenge of meeting the needs of our diverse learners. I have spent my entire career leading in education. I have worked in education poicy, in access to college programs, and in higher education. I understand what it will take to keep our district moving forward and I am asking for your vote.	”
—Andrea Cobb, (2015)

Campaign website

Cobb noted the following as her campaign's top priorities on her website:

“	Continuing to find ways to engage every student. Our students reflect the diversity of our community. Meeting the needs of our diverse learners is a challenge, but it’s a challenge that we must meet because every student deserves an opportunity to see him or herself as a capable learner. I am committed to working to achieve this vision for our students, because I know that in order for them to thrive in their lives after high school they must leave with a strong sense of self-efficacy, have positive aspirations for their futures, and have the knowledge and skills required to persist down their postsecondary education or career paths. I think that in order for us to achieve these goals we must focus on student engagement Supporting our educators. I believe that our educators are the backbone of our schools. In order for our educators to meet the community’s high expectations for academic and professional excellence we must make their professional growth and development a priority. Ensuring that Tacoma has a sustainable financial plan to continue to support the initiatives that have been successful at boosting student achievement in recent years, in spite of uncertainty about state funding. As the state Legislature continues to debate the future of K-12 education funding our district needs to make sure that we have a sustainable plan to continue to fund these initiatives so that students in Tacoma have a stable educational future. Ensuring that we have a balanced assessment system. I believe that assessments can play an important role in helping teachers hone in on specific areas where students need additional challenge or support. They also play an important role in helping to ensure that schools aren’t performing in ways that lead to disproportionate outcomes for certain groups of children in a systematic way. Moving forward, we need to look for ways to better align our local assessments with required state and federal assessments in order to reduce the time taken from instruction. Ultimately my highest priority as a board member is to create, adopt and revise district policy to promote equitable outcomes for our students.	”
—Andrea Cobb, (2015)

See also

• Tacoma Public Schools, Washington
• Tacoma Public Schools elections (2015)
• Incumbency no guarantee of success in Nov. 3 school board elections (November 6, 2015)
• What happened in Nov.'s top board elections? (November 4, 2015)

External links

Suggest a link

• Tacoma Public Schools
• Campaign website
• LinkedIn page