Jennifer De La Jara

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Jennifer De La Jara
Image of Jennifer De La Jara
Prior offices
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education At-large

Elections and appointments
Last election

May 17, 2022

Education

Bachelor's

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1996

Graduate

University of North Carolina, Charlotte, 2003

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Jennifer De La Jara was a member of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education At-large in North Carolina. De La Jara assumed office on December 11, 2019. De La Jara left office on December 12, 2023.

De La Jara (Democratic Party) ran for election for an at-large seat of the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners in North Carolina. De La Jara lost in the Democratic primary on May 17, 2022.

Biography

Jennifer De La Jara lives in Charlotte, North Carolina. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master's degree in education from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. De La Jara’s career experience includes working as a teacher at Central Piedmont Community College, as the diversity and inclusion director for the Transit Authority of River City, Kentucky, and as the director of education at The International House.[1]

Elections

2022

See also: Municipal elections in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (2022)

General election

General election for Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners At-Large (3 seats)

Incumbent Pat Cotham, incumbent Leigh Altman, and Arthur Griffin Jr. defeated Tatyana Thulien in the general election for Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners At-Large on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Pat Cotham (D)
 
28.7
 
243,309
Image of Leigh Altman
Leigh Altman (D)
 
27.4
 
231,956
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Arthur Griffin Jr. (D)
 
27.3
 
231,026
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Tatyana Thulien (R)
 
16.6
 
140,299

Total votes: 846,590
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners At-Large (3 seats)

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners At-Large on May 17, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Pat Cotham
 
24.9
 
48,964
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Arthur Griffin Jr.
 
19.6
 
38,372
Image of Leigh Altman
Leigh Altman
 
18.4
 
36,150
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Yvette Townsend-Ingram
 
14.0
 
27,437
Image of Jennifer De La Jara
Jennifer De La Jara
 
13.2
 
25,880
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Trina V. Boyd
 
9.9
 
19,470

Total votes: 196,273
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Tatyana Thulien advanced from the Republican primary for Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners At-Large.

2019

See also: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, North Carolina, elections (2019)

General election

General election for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education At-large (3 seats)

The following candidates ran in the general election for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education At-large on November 5, 2019.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Elyse Dashew
Elyse Dashew (Nonpartisan)
 
12.9
 
35,021
Image of Jennifer De La Jara
Jennifer De La Jara (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
12.4
 
33,583
Image of Lenora Shipp
Lenora Shipp (Nonpartisan)
 
10.6
 
28,611
Image of Stephanie Sneed
Stephanie Sneed (Nonpartisan)
 
10.5
 
28,416
Image of Monty Witherspoon
Monty Witherspoon (Nonpartisan)
 
8.6
 
23,155
Image of Annette Albright
Annette Albright (Nonpartisan)
 
7.3
 
19,836
Image of Gregory Denlea
Gregory Denlea (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
6.5
 
17,659
Image of Donna Parker-Tate
Donna Parker-Tate (Nonpartisan)
 
6.1
 
16,528
Image of Queen Thompson
Queen Thompson (Nonpartisan)
 
5.7
 
15,378
Image of Jordan Pineda
Jordan Pineda (Nonpartisan)
 
5.7
 
15,355
Image of Olivia Scott
Olivia Scott (Nonpartisan)
 
4.8
 
12,906
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Jenna Moorehead (Nonpartisan)
 
4.7
 
12,743
Image of Duncan St. Clair III
Duncan St. Clair III (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
3.9
 
10,623
Image of Matthew Ridenhour
Matthew Ridenhour (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)
 
0.0
 
5
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.3
 
854

Total votes: 270,673
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Jennifer De La Jara did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2019

Candidate Connection

Jennifer De La Jara completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by De La Jara's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I'm an Educator, Small Business Owner, Community Volunteer, Wife and Mother of two children in CMS.

  • Fighting for Teacher pay and to provide them the support they need.
  • Recruiting more counselors, social workers that are desperately needed in our schools
  • Expanding CTE programming so our scholars graduate college OR career ready.

We need to provide every child a quality education.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.



Campaign website

De La Jara's campaign website stated the following:

Every child deserves a quality education, and that means more than just reading, writing, and math. It means having great public schools that are well-funded, with teachers and staff who are supported and valued, and equitable access to resources. Our schools are facing many challenges, and it is up to us to come to the table, making sure that more voices are represented, to find the solutions our community needs.
  • Recruiting & Retaining Teachers

We need to be advocates for our teachers. Higher pay is just one piece of what must be a multi-part strategy to attract the best educators in the region to Mecklenburg County and to keep them here. By capitalizing on the momentum of the CMS Teaching Residency program, and by partnering with local colleges and universities to retain the area’s human capital, we can continue to grow a strong educational infrastructure with deep community roots. We must also ensure that teachers with unique skills and experiences are able to put those qualifications to work in a way that best serves students, without undue red tape. Lastly, we need to support our new teachers, making sure they are able to establish a solid foundation that will lead to many years of future success, for our students and for them professionally.

  • Equity & Inclusion

Compassion and encouragement for every student should be at the center of our education policy. That means equipping low-income and disadvantaged students with the tools they need to succeed not just in school, but in life. The district needs to ensure quality access to educational resources across schools and communities, which includes access to advanced classes for every student and giving them the support they need to excel in these courses of study. We must also prioritize the success of our students beyond high school by providing them with paths to post-high school achievement in community colleges, trade schools, the armed forces, and the workforce, in addition to four-year colleges and universities.

  • Support for Students

At the heart of education is a deep commitment to the individual success of every student. CMS must provide a variety of support services that include counselors, teaching assistants, psychologists, and social workers that make our schools an environments where every student can thrive. Hand-in-hand with these steps, district-wide cultural competence, and social and emotional learning training can increase the degree to which teachers and staff understand the unique circumstances and experiences that students face.

​I’m also committed to providing more career exploration opportunities in middle and high school so our students can evaluate their interests and their gifts and align them to be career or college-ready. In the past month, I have met with three (3) separate organizations that partner with CMS to provide CTE opportunities for computer hardware/software training, computer coding, and opportunities to explore careers in the trades. Research shows that we have and will continue to have a shortage of skilled tradesmen/tradeswomen. Not everyone needs or wants to go to a traditional college. We need to reinforce the value of careers in the trades and IT, many of which don't require a four-year degree.

  • More Funding for Pre-K

I will continue to fight for more Pre-K dollars. Preschool education continues to provide the best return on investment we can make for the county’s youngest scholars. I taught for two years in partnership with a local preschool, working with parents on family engagement and helping them to become their children’s “first” teachers. I have seen what Pre-K can do for our students, and I believe we need to expand our community’s investment in this area.[2]

—Jennifer De La Jara’s campaign website (2019)[3]

See also


External links

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Footnotes

  1. Jennifer for CMS, "Meet Jennifer," accessed September 2, 2019
  2. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  3. Jennifer De La Jara’s campaign website, “Issues,” accessed September 2, 2019