Dear readers of Public School Notes —
Thank you for your commitment to our public schools, and for helping me get elected to a seat on the Cambridge School Committee. I’m incredibly excited about the opportunity and about our schools, and humbled by the challenge and responsibility.
Kids grow up fast, they spend a lot of their time in school. Those schools need to be places of learning, of care, fairness, and of serious purpose. Our public schools in Cambridge aspire to those values, that’s what our educators are trying to create. It is the responsibility of the community and their elected representatives to make it possible for our schools to be those types of places. It’s what we want for our own children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren; it’s what we want for all children and young people.
My goal is to work constructively with others on the Committee, with the Superintendent of Schools, and with the City Council, and to use my skills and experience to help create policies that will steer our schools toward greater and greater efficacy and fairness. However, I will need your help, advice, and continued involvement. I hope the conversations that were generated during this election, discussions about controlled choice, staffing, budgets, curriculum, parent engagement, and the broader purpose of our schools, will continue. Please continue to be part of this conversation, please help me and others on the Committee translate good ideas from the community into policies that will make our schools work for all students.
An election is a lot of work. All of you reading this blogpost did that work, along with many others. Reading emails, talking about the issues with candidates and friends, hosting or attending a house party, reading news articles and going to forums, canvassing door-to-door in support of a candidate, holding a sign at the polls, donating money, posting on Facebook, sharing your own experiences and your hopes for the future of our schools, it all takes time, energy, and thought. Thank you for all the work you put into our public school system via this election, and for allowing me to become one of your representatives in governing our public schools.
Schools are also about budgets and being mindful about spending! To that end, I’ll be gathering up yard signs to re-use, assuming I’ll run for re-election in 2017. If you haven’t recycled yours yet, leave it posted and I’ll drive around and pick it up tomorrow or Friday. I was able to keep costs to the bare minimum of about $5,000, and have been able to raise almost half of that. If you’d still like to contribute, the campaign Act Blue account will be open for a few more weeks, as will the Committee to Elect Emily Dexter bank account, 9 Fenno Street, 02138: https://secure.actblue.com/contribute/page/emilydextersc.
Again, I’m deeply appreciative of all the work you put into the election, and of the opportunity you’ve given me. Please keep reading Public School Notes, and if you’re not yet a subscriber, you can sign up on the homepage.
Best,
Emily Dexter
Cambridge School Committee Member Elect!
9 Fenno Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-460-1597
Public School Notes 