Anne Coburn

Quick Facts

Current Position: Challenger
Candidate Status: Required signatures submitted: 74 (50 verified)
Website: www.coburn-for-cambridge.com
Cambridge.vote: anne-coburn

From the Candidate

I’m a producer, writer, and media maker who often focuses on intellectual property and social justice issues, although right now I’m the chief operating officer for an open source medical research device company.

While I’m originally from Ohio, my family and I lived in New York City between 2003 – 2019. But when we discovered that the NYC public schools’ balanced literacy curriculum was preventing our dyslexic five year old older daughter from learning to read, we moved to Cambridge in September 2019. We enrolled her into Kennedy-Longfellow. At a meet and greet, we were astounded when her new kindergarten teacher and the school administrators had already read her IEP. We were floored when her special educator turned out to be an Orton-Gillingham certified teacher. Zora’s experience of attending Kennedy-Longfellow was, very literally, life-changing in the best way possible.

But over time, we noticed that K-Lo seemed to be siloed in the district, disproportionately affected with enrollment fluctuations, budget disparities, and related staffing challenges. Other parents reported multiple rats around campus, sharing some of the educators and students’ experiences with the building, grounds, and overall infrastructure. These experiences did not line up with the district and school committee’s near constant use of the word “equity.” And I believe in showing a commitment to equity with actions – not with words. In April 2023, I publicly commented: “In this budget, what I see is Kennedy-Longfellow’s death by 1,000 budget cuts. I profoundly request – with all respect for an extraordinarily hard job – that this body reconsider their priorities and place the kids where they should be – in the center and at the core.”

I have not changed my position since then.

I believe that CPSD can be excellent – and often is excellent. But I also believe that throughout the district, access varies and follow through can be improved. I’ve seen CPSD at its best and its worst, and I’m really, really hoping to work to provide more good for as many kids in Cambridge as possible.

My top policy priorities:

Reinforce the safety and excellence of our schools for the district’s high needs populations.
Expand the HSEP program to serve middle school students.
Fix our bus system – because transportation length equals opportunity cost.
Ensure that Principals and administrators are held accountable based on clear, reasonable, and publicly available metrics.
Prioritize the creation of preschool aftercare programs.
Find ways to more effectively communicate School Committee district policy and plans to the public, and for all voices in this district to be heard.