Will Jenkins Sr.

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Will Jenkins Sr.

Nonpartisan

Education

Graduate

American Intercontinental University

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Army

Service / branch

U.S. Marine Corps

Years of service

1989 - 2010

Contact

Personal website

Will Jenkins Sr. was a candidate for the Position 2 seat on the Tacoma Board of Directors in Washington. He won in the primary election on August 4, 2015, and moved on to the general election on November 3, 2015. Will Jenkins Sr. lost the general election on November 3, 2015.

Jenkins completed Ballotpedia's 2015 school board candidate survey. Check out his responses in his "Campaign themes."

Biography

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

Jenkins earned his master's in information technology from American Inter-Continental University and is working toward a Ph.D. in forensic psychology at Walden University. He has multiple security and technical credentials. Jenkins is the president/CEO and founder of Advocate of Social and Community Change. He is a veteran who served in the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps between 1989 and 2010.

Organizations and affiliations

• Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated
• Fraternal Order of Masons
• Order of Eastern Stars
• Heroines of Jericho
• Knight Templar
• Holy Royal Arch Masons
• Shriners
• Citizens Academy—FBI Citizens Academy Alumni Association (FBICAAA)

Committees

• Equity Advisory Team (EAT)
• NAACP, Education Committee
• Vibrant Schools, Advisory Committee
• Green DOT, Advisory Committee
• Kids at Hope, Advisory Committee
• Black Education Strategy Roundtable (BESR)
• Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
• Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) member, Team Leader, Pierce County, Fire and Rescue

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 2 General Election, 6-year term, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Catherine Ushka Incumbent	65.8%	21,791
Will Jenkins Sr.	34.2%	11,344
Write-in votes	0%	0
Total Votes		33,135
Source: Pierce County Auditor, "November 3, 2015 General Election," accessed November 13, 2015

Tacoma Public Schools Board of Directors, Position 2 Primary Election, 6-year term, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Catherine Ushka Incumbent	54.7%	12,052
Will Jenkins Sr.	21.7%	4,770
Robert Bearden	16.9%	3,713
Antonio Wyatt	6.2%	1,374
Write-in votes	0.49%	108
Total Votes		22,017
Source: Pierce County, Washington, "August 4, 2015 - Primary Election Pierce County Official Election Results," accessed August 20, 2015

Funding

Jenkins reported $4,371.91 in contributions and $1,106.83 in expenditures to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission, which left his campaign with $3,265.08 on hand as of August 4, 2015.

Endorsements

Jenkins was endorsed by former board member Willie Stewart, Tacoma Councilmembers Victoria Woodards and Anders Ibsen and the Tacoma Ministry Alliance (TMA).

Campaign themes

2015

Ballotpedia survey responses

Jenkins participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display his responses to the survey questions. When asked what his top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:

“	My top three priorities are: Community collaboration, Increasing graduation rates and Lowering drop-out rates. My goals are to establish: (1) high expectations for all students, (2) increase transparency and community awareness within school board budgeting, levies, and bonds, (3) and most importantly to bring leadership, innovation and positive changes to Tacoma Public Schools (TPS). We need to bring back trust between communities and Tacoma School Board, bring back HOPE and belief in all actions. My objective is to bring together students, parents, teachers, administrators, school board members and advocates to create sustainable solutions that prevent low graduation and high drop-out rates.	”
—Will Jenkins Sr. (2015)

Ranking the issues

The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important:

Education policy
Click here to learn more about education policy in Washington.
Education on the ballot

Issue importance ranking
Candidate's ranking	Issue
1	Balancing or maintaining the district's budget
7	Expanding career-technical education
5	Closing the achievement gap
4	Expanding arts education
6	Improving college readiness
2	Improving education for special needs students
3	Expanding school choice options

Positions on the issues

The candidate was asked to answer 10 questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column of the following table:

Question	Response
What is your stance on implementing Common Core standards?	"Common Core standards are national standards, not state standards, which were created by Gates Foundation consultants for National Governors Association (NGA) and have not been fully implemented and tested in public schools. Policies and standards should not be changed without supporting validated data. The critical piece to understand is that kids do not learn at the same level and public schools should be designed to fit the needs of individual students."
Should your district approve the creation of new charter schools?	"This question comes at a time when the Washington state Supreme Court ruling leaves charter schools and hundreds of families in limbo. This decision takes authority away from the school districts until the ruling is finalized. Ultimately, the goal should always be to ensure that every student obtain a sound education without political strife."
Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system?	"No."
Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement?	"No. Standardized tests are not inclusive of all student achievement. As we began to really address individual needs of students and standardized testing scores, it becomes critically important to identify barriers that prevent overall student learning."
How can the district ensure equal opportunities for high and low achieving students?	"Truly understanding what I call the AOL Gap, defined as Achievement, Opportunity and Learning Gap, begins to address why students do not learn at the same level or rate because of social-emotional and other learning barriers. School districts should be aware of these barriers and ensure that all students have educational opportunities for success."
How should expulsion be used in the district?	"Expulsion should be reserved for the most severe of cases, and even then, should be addressed on a case by case basis. Intervention instead of expulsion is paramount. The overarching intent is to keep students engaged, in school, and focused on learning. Intervention fosters an environment that addresses and corrects inappropriate behaviors¬¬ ¬– Intervention instead of Suspension/Expulsion."
If a school is failing in your district, what steps should the school board take to help the students in that school?	"Schools that are under-achieving require corrective actions. This is a data-driven process that requires detailed analysis and identification of the root problem. The next steps taken should be analyzing and capturing school data to determine the best solutions and outcomes for schools and students. Policies should always be data-driven and focus on producing improvements within the district. School districts ideally function better when they identify best practices and trends that support improvement and success."
Do you support merit pay for teachers?	"Yes."
How should the district handle underperforming teachers?	"Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district."
How would you work to improve community-school board relations?	"Communities are essential to the success of any system. I would work to improve school board transparency and community collaboration that focuses on engagement at all levels from students, parents, teachers, administrators, community advocates, at a minimum. My vision is for the school board and community to engage in open forums outside of work schedules – permitting maximum participation of our communities and families. In part, community-school board relations means meeting communities and families where they are. This is truly when genuine partnerships between communities and the school board are built."

Candidate statement

Jenkins issued the following statement regarding his bid for office:

“	My top three priorities are: Community collaboration, Increasing graduation rates and Lowering drop-out rates. My goals are to establish: (1) high expectations for all students, (2) increase transparency and community awareness within school board budgeting, levies, and bonds, (3) and most importantly to bring leadership, innovation and positive changes to Tacoma Public Schools (TPS). We need to bring back trust between communities and Tacoma School Board, bring back HOPE and belief in all actions. My objective is to bring together students, parents, teachers, administrators, school board members and advocates to create sustainable solutions that prevent low graduation and high drop-out rates. Currently 22 percent of our students are failing and another 14.4 percent are being suspended and expelled. Every Year. “THIS HAS TO CHANGE.” I also want to make resources available for talented and gifted students, as well as support for students in special education programs. Imagine, all of these resources being transparent, accessible and available for all students or families.	”
—Will Jenkins Sr.,

Pierce County voters' pamphlet

Jenkins stated the following about his campaign in the Pierce County voters' pamphlet:

“	"Imagine creative and innovative solutions for our children that addresses all of their needs, this is what my leadership will bring.” Tacoma Public Schools has a 22% fail rate and 14.4% suspension/expulsion rate. That means 3,126 students are projected to fail out of our system. Every year. The district says they are doing "better," however "better" isn’t good enough if your child is left behind. The Achievement, Opportunity and Learning Gap, I call "A.O.L Gap" have caused many of our students to fall short of academic success. Community collaboration, reducing dropout rates, improving graduation rates are my top priorities. How are we going to fix it? Teachers are an invaluable resource for our schools and we need to bridge the divide between the school board room, community and the classroom. Our students can’t wait another 6-10 years for equity and academic excellence to occur – we need change now. It’s time to demand lower class sizes, higher pay for teachers, and academic excellence for our students. I want to with you and for you and I humbly "Ask" you to "Vote" for me Will Jenkins Sr.	”
—Will Jenkins Sr., (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
• Campaign Facebook page