This past June, David Murphy was appointed the Interim Superintendent of CPS after former Superintendent Greer was let go by the Cambridge School Committee. On September 4th he held a Q&A with the CPS community, hoping to give families an understanding of who he is and what he stands for.
The questions, posed by Tony Clark, a representative from the nonprofit My Brother’s Keeper, weren’t all light. “A lot of your experience has been on the administrative end,” Clark said, “and not as much time in schools.”
Before his promotion, Murphy was CPS’ Chief Operating Officer, starting in January 2023. Before that, he worked in various roles adjacent to the Superintendents’ office in Medford, Lowell, and Boston Public Schools.
“I was a, I’ll say, moderately successful substitute teacher,” Murphy was quick to add. After the laughs subsided, he explained that while he’s spent his career in Central Office, he’s learned that he cannot spend his actual day inside of one. “You cannot sit in your office,” he said. “You’ve got to get out there. You’ve got to build relationships. Be visible, be present, and I think most of all, be listening to what the people who are actually embedded in that school environment are seeing and experiencing, so that you can be positioned to support them.”
For Murphy, this has meant listening to a litany of concerns in a time where Cambridge is facing many issues. While some of these have only recently risen to a head, others, like achievement gaps, have been long-time struggles.
“Our overall excellence is going to be determined by the quality of our execution, not just the number of zeros that we put onto our budget,” Murphy said. “We have to marshal the resources at our disposal and utilize them in a way that moves the needle to improve outcomes for students, and that means eliminating achievement gaps, regardless of where they exist or how long they have persisted.”
Based on data from MCAS testing, 54 percent of all CPS students between grades three to eight met or exceeded grade-level math expectations in 2023. These numbers vary greatly when looking at specific demographics: Schools also face very different realities in terms of funding and student support. While 69 percent of white students met or exceeded math expectations, only 24 percent of Black students met the same criteria.
This year, a lot of controversy arose around principals hired by the former Superintendent in Graham and Parks, Fletcher Maynard, and Morse elementary schools. Anonymous teachers from Graham and Parks stated in a report to School Committee that they “no longer feel safe attending any meetings alone with Kathleen,” referring to Kathleen Smith, Graham and Park’s principal. Out of all CPS schools, staff from Graham and Parks rated it the lowest in terms of positive environment.
Greer’s lack of communication around these hirings and other decisions were part of the reason she was let go. For Murphy, being open is extremely important as a result.
“It goes back to execution and making sure that we are being transparent about the data,” he said. “We have to develop the strategies and the tactics to make sure that we can close those gaps.”
This article also appears in our September 2024 edition.
