Dear Friends and Neighbors,

I have decided not to run for reelection this fall. As I complete my third term on the School Committee, it’s time for me to focus my energies elsewhere, and for new leaders to take the baton. 

I wish I were completing my service having seen opportunity and achievement gaps eliminated. While the COVID years brought additional challenges, the core question of why we see disparities between student subgroups persists, despite our caring staff, well-resourced schools, new curricula, and new school buildings. The qualitative and quantitative evidence I’ve reviewed during my five-plus years on the School Committee suggests that there are two critical areas in which we should invest our energies: student experience and adult expectations. 

Student Experience

Policymakers often invoke a false dichotomy between a laser-like focus on academics and consideration of the environments in which our children learn. Yet feeling safe, known, and supported are prerequisites for academic learning. Science backs this up: when a child is stressed or scared, their brain activates the fight-or-flight response, and the work of their prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for focusing and learning, is compromised. This is why I have prioritized work around school climate, taking the School Climate Subcommittee to social-emotional observations at schools, meeting with groups of students about their experiences of a school’s culture, analyzing Teen Health Survey data, and partnering with student-led groups that have catalyzed change around topics ranging from consent culture to school lunch menus. 

In addition to a welcoming and inspiring school climate, every child deserves a champion (our campaign slogan). When I first ran for election in 2019, I believed that the Cambridge Public Schools worked well for children who had an adult that helped them navigate their schools, and that children without such support frequently fell through the cracks. I continue to see evidence that students with champions have better academic and social outcomes, and I’m heartened that the district is piloting student success plans, which include a role for “navigators” (aka champions). 

For many students, a caregiver is their greatest champion. However, while there are individual educators and family liaisons who collaborate wonderfully with caregivers, overall our district has not figured out how to move from disseminating information and “engaging” families to building deep partnerships that bolster student outcomes. I’m appreciative that the Cambridge Families of Color Coalition has advocated for transformative change on this front, and that this is one of the districtwide priority foci of the coming school year.

Adult Expectations 

Finally – but at least as importantly – it is common to hear people openly wonder how Cambridge can spend more money per pupil than virtually any other Massachusetts district and still see the same achievement gaps. The evidence suggests that racism continues to be a key factor.  District data shows that even Black and African American students who are NOT classified as having high-needs (low-incomes, disabilities, or learning English) perform lower than expected: systemically, we do not actually expect all children to meet and exceed academic standards. 

This is further evidenced by exceptions where Black students grow more than other students, such as in 10th grade English – a statistic for which administrators have credited the impressive Level Up team.  Students are very well attuned to when educators challenge them lovingly, and when they underestimate them.  (This is a rare overlap between former President George W. Bush and me - he was on to something regarding the “soft bigotry of low expectations.”) 

We should be strengthening a district culture of high expectations for students and adults. That is because, in addition to believing all students are capable of high academic achievement, educators need to believe that they themselves can be effective instructors, even if their students face societal obstacles outside of school. A mindset of high expectations for students and staff alike might just bring the needed transformation that new curricula, nicer buildings, and higher salaries have failed to realize.

This announcement is not my goodbye.  Up through January 1, 2026, I intend to continue pursuing the goal of creating schools our children deserve. In my final months as a School Committee Member, my concerns about student experience and adult expectations – as well as my belief in the need for protections for immigrant and transgender students/staff/families – will inform my positions, as well as how I evaluate new leaders come November. 

With gratitude for the opportunity to have served you and the children of Cambridge,

Rachel