Rachel Weinstein’s Plans For Addressing Inequality In CPS

This+is+Rachel+Weinstein%E2%80%99s+first+campaign+for+School+Committee.

Annie MacBeth

This is Rachel Weinstein’s first campaign for School Committee.

Eliza Weinberger, Contributing Writer

Rachel Weinstein is a first-time candidate in the School Committee election that will take place on November 5th. There are six spots on the committee and eleven candidates running, many of them for the first time. Weinstein is qualified because she is a parent and a former student of Cambridge Public Schools (CPS), and has clearly outlined goals and plans.

Weinstein has several proposals to support equality for students from families of color and lower-income families. Growing up middle class, she had an excellent experience as a student of CPS, but she realizes that many others didn’t. In her candidate profile on the City of Cambridge’s website, she lists multiple plans to close the achievement gap, including citywide Pre-K programs, “cultural proficiency” lessons for teachers, and increasing teacher training to support different students with capabilities in the same classroom. Weinstein also wants to ensure each child has a “champion” to support them, like a family member, teacher, or social worker.

She can work with other people and knows what schools need.

Weinstein has a significant amount of relevant experience beyond her work in schools, such as being on school management committees in Cambridge and Boston. 

These experiences show that she can work with other people and knows what schools need. Unlike other candidates, such as Ruth Ryan Allen, she has clear proposals for CPS, all of which would decrease division between students of different socioeconomic statuses, academic abilities, and cultural and racial backgrounds. Inequality is a big problem in CPS, and these are good steps to help eliminate it. 

Weinstein’s values and ambition make her a qualified candidate.

Weinstein’s plans are mostly feasible. The academic support and “cultural proficiency” training programs are practical since they could be incorporated into existing curricula. I also think her “champion for every child” program would benefit many students who don’t have much support, although, the “champion for every child” program would be hard to implement since teachers and parents are often pressed for time. Citywide Pre-K will be the hardest to implement because it will be expensive and many schools don’t have the resources for more students. Weinstein’s values and ambition make her a qualified candidate for the school committee.  She has an actual plan for how she will achieve her goals, and she will represent the interests of students. 

This piece also appears in our October 2019 print edition.