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José Luis Rojas Villarreal is running for a fourth term on the Cambridge School Committee as a “voice of reason,” pledging to bridge internal divides to put student education first.
Rojas, a Cambridge parent who has lived in the district for more than 25 years, said the School Committee stands divided and has worked together less effectively in recent years.
“I will bring a voice of reason and hopefully help the School Committee function better as a body so that we can actually meet our goals, which is to serve all of the students in the district,” he said.
Rojas said his primary priorities if elected are twofold. He intends to set “clear, achievable, and measurable” goals for the superintendent and ensure effective use of the city’s school building space after recent changes in the district.
Rojas said now marks an important time for the School Committee to consider new school renovation projects following the recent opening of the Tobin Montessori and Darby Vassall Upper School Complex — a $321 million investment from the city.
“We’ve spent a lot of money on new buildings over the last 15 years. Those projects are now done,” he said. “The question is, for the rest of the buildings, which is more than half a dozen, what are we going to do with those buildings?”
Repurposing the recently-closed Kennedy-Longfellow Elementary School’s building is part of his agenda. In December, the School Committee voted unanimously to close K-Lo, which suffered from persistent under enrollment and low test scores.
Rojas, who serves on the buildings and grounds subcommittee, said the School Committee faces the task of placing a “desirable” program into K-Lo’s building — one of the city’s largest — to “increase spots for families that want to send their kids there.”
Many candidates this year have committed to eliminating achievement gaps in the district, an issue that has persisted in Cambridge for decades. Data for the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exams released earlier last month showed a widening gap in both English and Math scores between white and Black students in Cambridge, despite overall growth.
The solution to reducing achievement gaps, according to Rojas, lies in raising expectations for teachers with increased professional development and teacher evaluations.
“Our teachers are super committed. They’re very skilled. At the same time, they can only benefit by having better evaluations,” Rojas said.
Rojas has already supported efforts to increase teacher evaluations in his time serving Cambridge Schools. Earlier this year, the School Committee voted to increase spending on teacher evaluations by $300,000 in the fiscal year 2026 budget.
According to Rojas, greater teacher training could also help educators develop skills to teach varied curricula, which he said could improve student classroom engagement.
“By us doing that and providing them professional development so they can actually improve on those things that have been highlighted to them, then we’ll have better teachers that, at the same time, will have the skills to differentiate learning in classrooms,” Rojas said.
Rojas suggested experimenting with alternatives to traditional coursework would better connect student education to the “real world” and bring in students that had previously been disinterested.
“Some kids do better in classrooms, some kids do better outside of classrooms,” Rojas said.
“This is not just making sure kids come to school, but they come to school because they want to be there,” he added.
— Staff writer Ayaan Ahmad can be reached at ayaan.ahmad@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @AyaanAhmad2024.
— Staff writer Claire A. Michal can be reached at claire.michal@thecrimson.com.
