a memorandum from Council Simmons regarding tonight's Roundtable Discussion

CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL E. Denise Simmons Mayor City Councillor 2008-2009 2016-2017 December 2, 2019 Mayor Marc McGovern Cambridge City Hall Cambridge, MA 02139 Re: Tonight’s Roundtable Discussion Dear Mr. Mayor: I wish to thank you for holding this evening’s Roundtable, and I must give my apologies for not being able to participate in person. I am still on the mend after my recent hip replacement surgery and I must once again participate in tonight’s discussion via telephone. I look forward to rejoining the Council in person in the very near future. I wish to thank Superintendent Salim and Deputy Superintendent Turk for forwarding us the information for tonight’s discussion in advance. Having reviewed the material, I do have a number of questions that I wish to enter into the record, and these are as follows: • The City has been discussing the idea of Universal Pre-K in one form or another for about a decade; would it be possible for our Assistant Superintendent, Ms. McDonald, to provide an overview of the work that has been done on this matter over the course of the past decade? • There are two options the Cambridge School District can use to enact a new Universal Pre-K plan: (1) a model in which the CPSD/City can directly run the program, or (2) a model similar to what we currently have in place. In both iterations, it would cost the district millions of dollars and it would seemingly have an adverse impact on our existing pre-school program. If this observation is correct, I must ask: where we already have a robust cradle-to-college program – albeit one that is not labeled as “Universal Pre-K” – why would we spend millions of dollars to enact a brand new program that essentially overlaps and fulfills the same role? • If we were to move forward with a Universal Pre-K model, one of my great concerns is around the family engagement portion – I find that the concept of “family engagement” is given short shrift in the proposal. Would we employ additional staff to do more aggressive outreach to families? If so, what would that effort look like? • The report also states the need for additional qualified, well-trained staff; one possibility would be to enrich our Education and Care program through RSTA in what would essentially be a “breed what you need” method of opening up options for students who are not necessarily

college-bound, as well as establishing a pool of qualified applicants to fill the additional job needs. If we proceed with a Universal Pre-K model, is this a project that could be launched? I know that we all want the very best for our children, and to provide a solid educational foundation to each and every student in Cambridge from the earliest possible opportunity. This is, unquestionably, a laudable goal. Yet I also want us to be mindful and deliberative in how we approach this matter. It appears that “Universal Pre-K” is one of the shiny new labels for a specific type of educational programming, it’s something that municipalities all across the country are racing to implement – and I want the City Council and the School Committee to stop and take a hard look at the programs we already have in place before we start chasing after new programs to implement. I want us all to pause a moment and ask ourselves: “What problem is Cambridge trying to fix?” I strongly suspect that Cambridge already has many, if not all, of the features that are found in the Universal Pre-K programs of other cities, and we merely have them under different names. If we determine that we do not have this kind of programming, then it is fair to explore ways to enact the best of what the Universal Pre-K programs may offer; otherwise, I question the wisdom of chasing after the hot new educational trend simply for the sake of saying that Cambridge is hopping on the Universal Pre-K bandwagon. I do also want to talk more broadly about the topic of collaboration between the City Council and the School Committee. In the Universal Pre‐Kindergarten Program Study’s condensed report for tonight’s Roundtable, there is a section on page 18 that touches upon playgrounds and Appropriate Outdoor Learning Environment challenges, with the suggestion that we need to be doing a better job of providing Outdoor Space that meets the needs of all of our students. I question why we needed an outside consultant to draft a report to tell us this, and I think this speaks to our need to re-commit to fostering a stronger, more collaborative working relationship between the City Council and the School Committee. We have a shared responsibility to all our students, and more deliberate, more robust communication between our two bodies of office-holders throughout each term could help us be more agile and proactive in addressing issues like the need for creating better playground areas in our schools. Regardless of what direction we take in regards to a Universal Pre-K program, the issue of investing in better playgrounds specifically – and in investing in stronger communication and collaboration between the City Council and the School Committee more broadly – is something that I feel we must commit to. Again, I am pleased that the City Council and School Committee are holding this important Roundtable discussion, I am sorry to not be there in person to participate, but I thank the Mayor’s Office, the Clerk’s Office, and the IT Department for enabling me to participate remotely, and I thank everyone for taking my questions under consideration. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Sincerely, __________________________ City Councilor E. Denise Simmons ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CITY HALL, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02139 [phone removed] FAX: [phone removed] TTY/TDD: [phone removed] EMAIL: dsimmons@cambridgema.gov