School committees have three basic powers: They set policy; they hire someone to execute that policy (the superintendent); and they approve the budget (the dollars to fund the policy execution). Cambridge has never had a problem with funding, and it has no shortage of well-meaning policies; we’re not shy about getting behind a new idea in education, for better or worse. But it has struggled for that last piece – the executor; a great team leader.
For those not already aware, we parted ways with our last permanent superintendent last spring, which is why we’re back in the market for one now – and why we need your help.
In June, we had 24 people apply for the position of superintendent of the Cambridge Public School District. In July, three School Committee members and 14 community members interviewed the qualified applicants and selected those who will be our finalists. Those names have not yet been disclosed (I don’t know who they are myself), but I hope they will be soon. When they are, we need to move deliberately and decisively: We need to establish a clear list of next steps – how and when they’ll meet the staff; how and when they’ll meet parents; when they’ll be formally interviewed and when the committee will vote on a hire. And that list must have dates. And times.
Everyone has an interest in making sure we pick the right person (even if you don’t have kids, we are a major draw on tax dollars; the school system is a full third of the city’s annual budget). And no one can plan to participate without details.
Details that, as a committee member, I can’t even get myself.
So here’s my ask: When you see a member of the committee, flag him or her down. Ask them for names. And dates. And times. And locations. Send them an email. Call them. Write them a note and put it in a bottle in Fresh Pond and hope it finds them. Just do it.
Why is it important that you nudge them? If I haven’t already convinced you with the tax dollars argument, let me try a few more: We haven’t yet had federal immigration enforcement show up at a CPSD school – but we will. And when we do the superintendent will have to make a decision what to do. It’s easy to pontificate from behind a desk, quite another to manage a situation in which you have law enforcement officers with a legal right to action requesting (or demanding) access.
Confused kids; upset parents; scared staff. You don’t want to find out then that you chose someone with no forethought and no courage behind his or her convictions. Platitudes won’t save you here.
Or take artificial intelligence: We already have kids using it to complete coursework in and out of the classroom. We need to establish – right now – a clear plan that safeguards the development of foundational academic skills while also promoting thoughtful engagement with, and a visceral understanding of, a toolset that is already becoming integral to a modern economy. Easy to say – hard to do.
Or studentship: Kids aren’t coming to school. This includes kids with stressful circumstances that might prevent them from attending reliably – and also kids without those stressors who are abusing lenient grading and attendance policies and coursework posted online to treat the classroom like an asynchronous experience they can engage with at their leisure.
And sometimes you’d be hard pressed to blame them: We have classrooms – especially in our middle schools – that are disrupted regularly by screaming, throwing of laptops and physical altercations. Faculty can’t teach effectively in these environments. We have vaping and fighting and kids shoplifting from nearby businesses. It’s a mess. And it’s not for lack of boots of the ground: We have a 4-to-1 staff-to-student ratio – the absolute best in the nation in public schools. (We’ve doubled the number of district employees in the past 20 years while the number of students enrolled has stayed the same; you pay an extra $100 million every year in inflation-adjusted dollars for all these people versus what you did 20 years ago.) It’s not funding or bodies; it’s a lack of leadership.
All of which brings me back to this: Tell your representatives to establish a comprehensive list of next steps required to hire a permanent superintendent, with dates, times and locations attached. Tell them to do this now so we can communicate it widely. We not only need to identify the right person, but we also need to identify them via a process in which everyone is confident, such that no one is questioning their right to exercise the full powers of the Office of the Superintendent when they take it.
The person we hire can’t afford those questions – he or she will already be carrying more than enough.
Elizabeth Hudson, Harvard Street, Cambridge
The writer is a Cambridge School Committee member running for reelection.
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I wish we had more elected officials in Cambridge who communicate with such clarity and conviction. She will be my number one vote.
“… We have vaping and fighting and kids shoplifting from nearby businesses. It’s a mess..”
First, find me a middle school anywhere that doesn’t have these issues.
Second, do you really think schools should be held responsible for things outside of school hours?
Inflammatory talk is unhelpful.