Bernette Dawson
2019 Candidate for Cambridge School Committee

Home address:
71 Oxford St. #8
Cambridge, MA 02138

Contact information:
email: info@bernettedawson.com, yooree@bernettedawson.com
phone:
website: www.bernettedawson.com/
Twitter:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BernetteDawsonforCPS/
Instagram: @vote_bernette

Send contributions to:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/bernette-for-school-committee-1

Bernette Dawson is a new candidate this year.

Background
I am the daughter of a Jamaican immigrant father and a mother of Caribbean descent, raised with a strong work ethic and the belief that education was a gateway to a great life. From the age of 11, I was bused from Boston to Natick, where I attended public schools through the METCO program. That experience gave me an early window into the injustice built into the education system in the United States: Kids in my home neighborhood of Mattapan had to fight for access to the opportunities my Natick classmates took for granted.

My passion for equity in education was strengthened by my experience as the mother of a child with special needs—as a toddler and into his elementary years, it was clear that our older son, Ameir, now an 8th grader, had learning differences that required fierce advocacy to ensure he received the services he needed. The CPS Special Start program helped us connect with teachers who would join me in championing our son, guiding me through the IEP process and supporting his social-emotional development.

While I saw other families hire education advocates—a service my husband Abdul and I couldn’t afford—I took the role on myself, making sure any service that could help Ameir was provided. By third grade, Abdul and I were convinced that there was a piece of the puzzle missing, and after a more thorough diagnostic evaluation, Ameir was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. We had finally found the key to understanding and helping our son—he is, in Bernette’s words, “a twice-exceptional learner.”

Ameir’s diagnosis spurred me to seek out additional training and increase her advocacy work for children with special needs. I joined and trained with the Parent Leadership in Autism Network (PLAN), and have worked with other ASD families to help ensure that their children receive the best possible services. I also became an active volunteer at our sons’ school—acting as treasurer of Friends of Baldwin, a room parent, a School Council member, joining the Friends of RAUC Committee, and actively volunteering at both Baldwin and RAUC.

I live in West Cambridge with my husband Abdul (who she met at Brandeis College), Ameir (8th grade) and Zion (3rd grade). I am a Registered Nurse and worked at the Lahey Clinic before leaving to care for my mother after a serious accident, I completed the WIN Lab Babson College venture accelerator through the Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership (CWEL) at Babson College. I am now a small business owner (my organic body-care line, Made Organics, is sold online and at farmer’s markets throughout the Boston area) and I revel in teaching her sons the ropes of the entrepreneurial life—they have even started their own clothing line, AWSM BRWN.

My life experiences have prepared me to help make Cambridge Public Schools the best district in the state. I am a quick learner who is not afraid of hard work. I know that the IEP process is confusing and difficult, I know that meeting the academic needs of advanced learners feels impossible. I know that our district often misses the mark in really understanding students of color. I see how hard our teachers work, even though they still don’t have the hearts and hands they ask for year after year. I know the value of social-emotional learning as part of a well-rounded curriculum. I know that every parent, regardless of income or education level, loves their child and wants the best education for them, but not everyone is able to get the results they want and deserve. I am excited and ready to take on the challenge of finding solutions for every child in the Cambridge Public Schools.

Top Priorities
I will be a brave voice for CPS Students, families and teachers. My friends and family share that I am not afraid to tell it like it is. I like to think that I bring a folding chair to the table to ensure that my voice is heard. I plan to do that as a member of the school committee. As a member of the CPS Sense Making Team, our working group was tasked with asking some of the hardest questions around race and developed thoughtful proposals that spoke to the needs that we identified through peoples’ stories. That experience was critical in motivating me to run for Cambridge School Committee. I thrived meeting families, learning about and sharing our diverse experiences with CPS, and setting forth proposals to improve our schools. I feel strongly that our administrators and school committee don’t tap parent networks effectively, and I would like to bridge the two groups to ensure that everyone has a seat at the table.

Although my priorities are numerous, much of my action plan rests in being a facilitator of discussions and collaborating with teachers, parents, and administrators to develop program improvements that center on the following areas:

Raising the Level of Excellence

The Innovation Agenda and Upper Schools
I plan to focus on ensuring that the school committee and district administrators are delivering on the Innovation Agenda. My eldest son is an 8th grader at RAUC and I see what is working well (upper school enrichment opportunities) and what isn’t (lack of robust advanced math program). Time and time again, I hear families say “just put up with the Upper Schools until high school. CRLS is much better.” I think there is something seriously wrong that our families feel like they have to get through Upper Schools before their kids can hit their stride and thrive at CRLS. It’s time we look at the upper schools closely and make improvements so that our students thrive all the way from JK thru grade 12.

Advocate for Advanced Learning Needs
I plan to work with the families of advanced learners to assess where the district is doing well and where we need to improve. I believe that we need to evaluate the current screening process for advanced learners to make sure we capture gifted students who may not have parents advocating on their behalf.

Supporting An Increase in Teaching Staff

In-Class Hearts and Hands are Worth It
Listening and supporting the needs of teachers, specifically increasing “hearts and hands” in classrooms. So much of where the district is struggling could be addressed with smaller class sizes or additional in-class teacher support. The challenges of difficult student behavior, delivering meaningful differentiation and academic intervention for different types of learners, and the achievement gap could absolutely be improved if we listen to and deliver what teachers request.

Launch Universal JK

JK for All, Once And For All!
I also plan to push for Universal JK. The school committee has studied this issue and has yet to move on it. It’s time that we give all students a year of JK. I believe in Junior Kindergarten for all. A portion of our 4-year-olds are left out of the Cambridge Public School System with the March 31st cut off. It’s unfortunate that a portion of our 4-year-olds get a free quality Junior Kindergarten experience and the other portion either stay at home, in home daycare, or parents have to pay for a private school that could average between $11,000 - to about $28,000 a year. If we want to close the opportunity and achievement gap, we know we need to start at an early age.

Advocate for families frustrated with CPS that include: Students of Color, Students on IEP, Special Education, Structured Academics, LGBTQIA, and Advanced Learners.

A Brave Voice For All
All of our students deserve to have their voices be heard, no matter who they are, what their needs are, or how they are showing up in the classroom every day. All students deserve adults advocating on their behalf and alongside them to ensure all their needs are being met. We know the students of Cambridge have diverse needs. They need leaders who will see beyond a one size fits all approach to education.

District-Wide Cultural Proficiency Training And Meaningful Anti Racist Work
I will continue to hold the district administrators accountable to ensuring that our teachers and staff have extensive cultural proficiency training. I am not afraid to call things out as they are. Implicit bias exists in our schools, regardless of how proficient and kind our administrators and teachers are. Our entire district, from the top down, needs to show, not tell, that we want to dismantle white supremacy and racial inequalities. In my years as a parent in this district, I have seen families of color and students of color do the heavy lifting of addressing racial inequalities. I had to discuss with teachers at my son’s school why a book that contained images of slaves and a slave auction was culturally insensitive for a 7-year-old student. The students in the high school’s Black Student Union have led the district to do some serious inward thinking; we need school committee members to support them.

Improve Transparency, Communication, and Access to Information
CPSD is a giant system and, too often, families and students aren’t heard. Navigating CPSD can be daunting, especially for families facing additional challenges, whether they have recently immigrated, are in a lower income bracket, or have not completed as much education themselves as others in the district. I have made my way through the district as a mother of a child on an IEP as well as an advanced learner, and we’ve also seen the challenges faced by families of color in the district. I will be a voice for all families to ensure that they all have a seat at the table. We spend a lot of time talking about the achievement gap; I also want to focus on the opportunity gap and make sure all students have access to the remarkable programs and opportunities available here in Cambridge.

Top Challenges Facing CPS today
Returning to my platform point about “hearts and hands,” I think well-trained, capable, kind adults in classrooms need to be a top priority to overcome many of the challenges with which the district is currently struggling. Whether supporting advanced learners, increasing the time teachers can spend with each student individually,* or helping to decrease behavior issues, more adults in the classrooms should be one of our top priorities.

We must raise the rigor and expectations overall at our middle schools, but especially in math, where we see striking differences in results from school to school. We should be finding creative ways to use the extra blocks of math time so no student is bored and no student falls behind.

Finally, I would prioritize the initiatives set forth by the Building Equity Bridges grant. This grant, funded by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, is focused on engaging those affected by entrenched systems of oppression to build a collective understanding of the lived experiences of our young people, families, and staff, and to develop recommendations for removing barriers to college and career success. I was part of the CPSD Sense Making Team, and my involvement is this project was one of the most fulfilling parent volunteer experiences I have ever had. It felt like one of the few times that families marginalized by our schools were wholeheartedly listened to. Our team worked on understanding a variety of data and proposing solutions. We were a diverse representation of 30 CPS and community members who received anti-racism training and engaged in small group discussions about CPS data. One of the key proposals that I was most excited about was requiring that our district hire teachers of color from within our communities. We know that students do better when their administrators and teachers look like them: Students of color make up 60% of all students in our district; our teachers should reflect that. We know that the education system is built on racial bias and white supremacy, and one way to start dismantling those structures is to recruit and retain teachers of color. There are some proposals that can be considered and implemented in the very near future, while others would need more planning and pilot stages; I want to lead the effort in funding and implementing them.

(n.d. retrieved from https://www.cpsd.us/cms/One.aspx?portalId=3042869&pageId=68855423)

Vote Bernette Dawson #1 for CPS School Committee
When I look at the group of candidates running for the school committee, I see that we all share a strong desire to work for a better CPS. I have spent nine years in CPS lifting my voice to demand that our schools do better. My two sons have had two* very different student experiences. The IEP process is confusing and difficult, and while other families hired outside consultants, I learned how to be a parent advocate for my son, and then trained to help other families navigate the system. Meanwhile, I know that meeting the academic needs of our advanced learners can feel impossible, and I know that our district often misses the mark in really understanding students of color. My entire life, I have been an eager learner and a hard worker. When I’m faced with a problem or a new challenge, I roll up my sleeves and get to work—researching, making connections, talking to experts, and listening to other people who have been in my shoes. I’m ready to do the same for CPS. I will be a voice on the school committee that truly represents our families and who fights vigilantly for the needs of every child, family, and teacher in the district.

-- Bernette

Bernette Dawson
Candidate for Cambridge School Committee

CCTV candidate video (2019)