‘Life-Long Educator’: Caitlin Dube Puts Her Name in the Running for School Committee

Caitlin E. Dube ’05 wants educators to have a seat on the Cambridge School Committee. As a challenger with over a decade of teaching experience, she believes she is up to the task.

Dube moved to Cambridge in 2021 after working as a teacher, dean, and administrator in cities across the country. She currently works as an education consultant at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, as well as running the Gamechangers and Changemakers leadership program for students.

“I taught history for a long time,” she said. “The goal of that type of education is to get students to move towards action — and that’s how I live as well.”

Dube is currently mobilizing towards the Nov. 4 election, running in the most crowded field in recent memory. But she said her experience as an educator sets her apart from other challengers and incumbents — informing her commitment to including educator and parent voices on the School Committee.

“I’m uniquely positioned as a parent of a fifth grader and someone who’s been deeply involved both at the elementary school level, but also across the district,” she said. “I take action, and I really deeply have invested in Cambridge and the families here.”

Dube promotes collaboration on all fronts of her campaign. A key example includes a non-voting seat for the Cambridge Education Association — the union by which Dube is endorsed, representing the district’s teachers and staff.

“I’m excited to partner with educators and the CEA and the deeply committed people here in the city,” she said. “We’re at a really critical moment now coming out of Covid and moving into a future where democracy is more important than ever, and so to have that type of engagement and progress is extremely important.”

The CEA has become a powerful factor in this year’s election cycle, after releasing a scathing August statement condemning the superintendent search for a lack of transparency with parents and teachers. Dube said despite the criticism of the process, she looks forward to working with the newly appointed permanent superintendent, David G. Murphy.

“It’s really important to think about and collaborate with the new superintendent,” she said. “We want to set that person up for success.”

Beyond working with Murphy, Dube said she will implement a “strategic audit across the district” to flag areas for improvement alongside best practices.

“We have room for growth and improvement across all areas of the district because even in places where we’re doing really, really well — and there are a lot of places where we’re doing that — we need to share those practices so that every school is resourced and has a conversation across the district about what’s working and what we might need to do differently,” Dube said.

She added that the School Committee must prioritize uplifting “our most underserved students,” investing in interventions that will help close Cambridge’s achievement gap.

Even with her individual goals for the body, Dube said that it is “important to remember that School Committee functions as a committee.”

“It’s great for individuals to have specific tasks that drive them, but ultimately, it’s about collaborating and working as a group to get policies implemented,” she added.

—Staff writer Dionise Guerra-Carrillo can be reached at dionise.guerracarrillo@thecrimson.com.