Carlton Jenkins, an alumnus of UW–Madison’s School of Education, was recently named the superintendent of the Madison Metropolitan School District, a position he will begin on Aug. 4.
Jenkins earned both his master’s (1993) and PhD (2009) from the School of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis.
On July 15, The Capital Times published a report headlined: “ ‘It’s long overdue’: Jenkins will be Madison’s first Black superintendent.” In fact, as the report begins, “The second-largest school district in a state known for having among the nation’s worst Black-white achievement gaps has never had a person of color in its top job.”
In the article, reporter Scott Girard spoke with several leaders in the Black community to get their thoughts on Jenkins.
“Given everything that’s going on around this country, it’s great to see an African American in that role,” said Boys and Girls Club of Dane County CEO Michael Johnson.
But as the Cap Times notes, Johnson and others want to make sure Jenkins isn’t defined solely by that identity.
“Let’s guard ourselves to not be the only thing we see in this man is the first Black superintendent,” said Kaleem Caire, another alum of the UW–Madison School of Education and the founder and CEO of One City Schools. “Let’s celebrate that, but let’s not let his resume get overshadowed by it.”
Jenkins’ resume includes five years as the Robbinsdale Area Schools superintendent in Minnesota, chief academic officer for the Atlanta Public School System and superintendent of Saginaw Public Schools in Michigan. He also spent time as an associate principal and principal in Beloit and one year as an associate principal at Madison Memorial High School. He began his teaching career in Beloit, as well.
UW-Madison’s Gloria Ladson-Billings, a professor emerita with the School of Education who served on Jenkins’ dissertation committee when he received his doctorate in 2009, called him an “excellent choice” who she hopes the community will “give a fair shot.”
“I hope that people will look at his qualifications and not his skin color as the thing to be proud about at this point,” Ladson-Billings tells the Cap Times. “Certainly, the African American community is happy that Madison has looked beyond its traditional candidates, but that can’t be the end-all, be-all of this.”
As Ladson-Billings tells the newspaper, Jenkins will immediately face numerous important issues when he begins his new post — a school year amid a pandemic, no school resource officers, budget challenges and two major referendums on the November ballot.
“I’m hoping that the community will allow him to transition, not just expect him to hit the ground running,” Ladson-Billings says. “He’s going to need time to get back up to speed to where Madison is right now.”
To learn much more about Jenkins and hear what many others had to say, check out the full Capital Times report here.