When I ran for governor in 2014, my campaign’s motto was “All Means All.” That meant that when we said “liberty and justice for all,” we meant that we would fight for every single person regardless of their background, provide housing and health care for every family regardless of their ability to pay and educate every student to a universally high standard. It meant that having the top public school system in the country doesn’t mean Massachusetts can slow down, and that we must keep fighting harder for justice for all students.

I’m endorsing Will MacArthur for School Committee because I see that same spirit in him, and because he has the qualifications and experience to make it happen.

In his 13 years as a Cambridge Public School student, Will got a great education. He is quick to acknowledge the opportunities he had inside and outside of the classroom and the teachers who helped him realize them; he understands that a great public school system should give students the opportunity to accelerate academically. But he is as quick to point out that those opportunities, whether they come in the form of a recommendation for an honors class or the time to engage in an extracurricular activity, are distributed unequally across the district.

I have seen Will put ideas into action. He organized high school students for my campaign and has spent the past five years working with the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter, bringing in many other young people in the process. The goals he has for the Cambridge Public Schools district are large but specific, from keeping all students in the same classrooms through ninth grade and ensuring that students with special needs and the teachers who serve them have access to co-teachers to tackling the persistent racial and socioeconomic divides in extracurricular activities and out-of-school time. I believe he has the passion and ability to work with the superintendent and implement these initiatives and others.

I loved campaigning in Cambridge because this city is not afraid to look forward. It held the first same-sex marriage in the United States, organized effectively to fight against the Inner Belt Expressway and for rent control, and boasts the oldest public high school in the United States that has remained open to all without entrance exams. But the city and school district cannot remain complacent where there is still work to be done, and Will won’t be complacent while he fights to close the gaps in achievement and opportunity that he saw as a student and represents students, teachers and families on the School Committee. I urge you to give him your No. 1 vote Nov. 7 so he can get started.

Donald Berwick was a gubernatorial candidate in the 2014 Massachusetts Democratic primary, a leading advocate for health care reform and in 2011 was appointed by President Barack Obama as the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Will MacArthur is 2016 graduate of Cambridge Rindge and Latin School and a candidate for School Committee.