Clarity must feel great.

campaign postcards who dis!

Today I: 

• Got postcards for the campaign 

• Continued on my quest to speak with people everywhere in the Cambridge Public School District. [Ed note: Goal: 35. 7 down, 28 to go.] 

• Reviewed the top-line bios of the three superintendent finalist candidates

• Lourenço Garcia, Ed.D., Assistant Superintendent, Revere, MA

• David Murphy, Interim Superintendent, Cambridge, MA

• Magaly Sanchez, Chief Family Advancement Officer, Boston, MA

• Glanced at the Cambridge parents’ listserve

• Fretted.

My feelings about the superintendent search are complex.

I think that the legitimacy of this entire search is highly questionable and that, overall, the School Committee has handled this task very poorly. But I also think the process has brought – as far as I can currently tell – three qualified candidates forward for review. Each candidate has different characteristics that the public and the School Committee have repeatedly highlighted as a top priority.

Great. However.

What makes me the most angry is that this process has undermined all candidates’ capacity & effectiveness, and it’s happened at a time when I at least am very, very concerned about the possibility of having no permanent superintendent for another year. Uncertainty & power vacuums create shitty working and learning conditions as it is – but we are currently operating in a backdrop of profound transformation. 

The cuts to Medicaid alarm me, our transportation and bus contracts alarm me, the long term well being of the K-Lo kids alarms me, the health of FMA alarms me, and the fact that Trump sent the National Guard into Washington, DC deeply alarms me. As per the New York Times, “Mr. Trump said his plans were justified by out-of-control crime in Washington, even though official figures show a sharp decline.” It feels like he’s trying to turn DC into the Central Park 5. And like he’s doing this as a dry run for other cities. 

At the same time? 

I’m not good with putting in someone just for expediency’s sake. That’s not a good place to start from, basically ever. So I am back to point one: pissed that we got walked into this nonsense by this School Committee, while feeling like there is no clear path forward.

I guess we all ask what purpose we seek to achieve in the next few weeks. Should this city be okay with the current individuals presented for review? Should we take a bet on the future efficacy of newly elected School Committee members in case a search must be re-done? I’d really, really love to have clarity or a quick answer to any of the above questions.

But I don’t.

So I’m going to hold onto the one certainty I do have. That’s to ask:

“What is the outcome that will best serve the interests of the CPSD students?”