Cambridge students shouldn't simply learn to read and do math at grade level. They should learn to apply their reading and math skills to research and problem-solving, asking and answering questions that interest them, and identifying reliable information rather than being vulnerable to rampant online misinformation. And they should benefit from immersive and culturally responsive teaching that goes beyond offering diverse texts for them to consume passively.

Classrooms should be fully staffed to best support students, including with two adults in every elementary school classroom. All schools should have full special educator staffing and certified librarians, social workers, nurses. 

Cambridge should hire highly qualified educators and support them with professional development and robust evaluation and feedback – and respect their expertise, giving them autonomy in the classroom and input into policy decisions. Additionally, we should leverage our educators’ expertise by encouraging peer-to-peer observation, support and collaboration. Teachers often learn the most from other teachers.

Hungry, tired, stressed kids struggle to learn, so wraparound services should be used to lower barriers to student success, combating the effects of poverty, housing and food insecurity, inadequate medical care, and other stressors. We cannot close the achievement gap without addressing the root causes of that gap: systemic racism, inequality, and poverty.

Students should emerge from the Cambridge schools not just ready to hold a job but to pursue their dreams and be fully engaged in our society and our democracy.