Jia-Jing Lee Champions Underrepresented Communities in Bid for School Committee

As a Cambridge Public Schools parent, Jia-Jing Lee has advocated for students with special needs, English language learners, and former Kennedy-Longfellow families. Now, she hopes to take that advocacy to the next level by running for the district’s School Committee.

With two children in the district, Lee, whose oldest child started in CPS 12 years ago — is campaigning on addressing ongoing student achievement gaps and improving transparency with families.

Lee, whose youngest child is a former K-Lo student, said the school’s contentious closure is a key reason for her School Committee bid.

“I was advocating a lot for the other families who are non-native speakers or with parents or caregivers who are not able to have that time and leisure or knowledge to know what’s going on,” Lee said.

At the time of its closure, K-Lo’s student body had the district’s highest percentage of “high-needs” children — English language learners, low income students, and individuals with disabilities — and predominantly consisted of students of color. Many parents feel that the school’s shuttering highlights longstanding inequalities in the district.

Last year, Lee began serving on the district’s transition advisory team: a committee of K-Lo stakeholders who represented families in the aftermath of the school’s closure. If elected to the School Committee, she wants to work to address the achievement gaps that still exist at other schools in the district.

The academic gap between Black and white CPS students widened to nearly 50 percent in both English and math on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam during the last school year — a trend many families feel illustrates deep inequities in Cambridge’s public schools.

In working to address these discrepancies, Lee said that the district needs to be “flexible” instead of taking a “one size fits all approach” — a framework Lee called “the root cause of the problem.”

Lee said she has seen the impacts of this approach first-hand.

When the medical scientist first arrived in Cambridge, she attempted to enroll her oldest child in the district. After struggling to receive an Individualized Education Program — a tailored learning plan for special needs students — she pulled her child out of CPS, opting instead to homeschool for several years.

Lee said those challenges exposed her to “systemic issues” at CPS — a “lack of communication, lack of transparency and lack of accountability“ with stakeholders.

She also said broadening the district’s framework around student performance would better address their academic struggles.

“Struggling learners are often not struggling in every subject. For example, a student with reading difficulties may excel in math, science, or social studies, but their reading challenges limit access to content in those areas. As a result, their test scores may inaccurately suggest they are behind in multiple subjects,” Lee wrote in an email.

Lee, who has lived in five countries and speaks English, Mandarin, Cantoanese, and Malay, said she also brings a “global perspective” to education systems and can connect to immigrant families and new Cambridge residents.

“I understand how it feels, especially with a lot of people who are not native here, or they move to Cambridge,” Lee said. “I can connect with them very well.”

— Staff writer Claire A. Michal can be reached at claire.michal@thecrimson.com.