I was recently asked, “why should I sign this sheet to get you on the ballot? I don’t have kids in the schools! So why should this matter to me?”

I was a little startled. But I realized that his question is at the heart of why public school education matters. And that is at the heart of what democracy means. Why it matters. Who it’s for. Who it affects. How we use it, and why.

Kids — the people most affected — are not allowed to contribute to the question of public education because they can’t vote. That means that people who can vote make decisions for your kid, your friend’s kid, and you. And here and now, in Cambridge, MA, this election is pivotal.

People’s jobs, livelihoods, and safety nets hang in the balance of federal funding cuts. We all deal with extraordinarily high costs of living. And we’ve lived through half a decade of CPSD administrative instability, financial glut, and mutual distrust between our elected officials, educators, and caregivers.

But all of our kids – every kid in this school district — deserve our full care and attention, they deserve an effective education, and they deserve to not be forgotten, ever again. They are why this election matters.

And all of our kids deserve better.

Thanks so much, and I hope to see you on Voting Day,

Anne Coburn, Cambridge School Committee Candidate

July 2025