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At-large candidates offer competing fixes for literacy, inclusion and school marketing
Summary
At-large candidates Tiffany Jewell, Emily Sarafee Cox and Roberta Sanger Sullivan described solutions for literacy, special education, staff retention, and attracting families to Northampton Public Schools, including dual immersion programs, evidence-based curricula, and marketing the district.
The three candidates running for the two at-large seats on Northampton’s school committee used a League of Women Voters forum on Nov. 3 to outline competing priorities for literacy, special education, staffing and district recruitment.
Emily Sarafee Cox, a six-year incumbent and lead negotiator for recent district contracts, emphasized collective bargaining gains and long-term program investments. "We have made huge strides towards... living wages for our paraeducators and our cafeteria workers," she said, and proposed investments such as dual Spanish-English immersion to attract and retain families.
Tiffany Jewell, a 20-year educator and author, stressed classroom experience and community engagement. Jewell said she supported transparent budgeting and distributed leadership and described low-dollar, in-kind campaign practices she used to support local mutual aid rather than asking for donations.
Roberta (Robbie) Sanger Sullivan framed her candidacy around collaboration and practical leadership. On charter schools she said, "Charter schools have been around for about 30 years. They're here to stay and I'm not going to vilify them." Sullivan pressed the committee to better market district strengths and to hold multiple priorities at once — improving services while communicating achievements.
Common themes: all three candidates said they want to improve literacy by implementing evidence-based curricula and training teachers, and to address gaps in special-education services and leadership turnover. Each candidate also said the district should better explain budget lines and publish clearer, readable budget documents.
Differences in emphasis: Cox emphasized negotiated pay improvements and long-term program growth; Jewell emphasized classroom perspective and community-based solutions; Sullivan emphasized pragmatic coalition-building and marketing to reverse enrollment declines.
What voters heard: the three candidates repeatedly returned to the same priorities — literacy, IEP compliance, staffing and the superintendent search — but offered different approaches to implementation. The candidates did not provide specific dollar amounts for proposed programs or staffing increases onstage.
Quotes and provenance: the candidates responded to panel questions from Alexander McDougall and Jean Cherdak and cited concrete classroom and bargaining experience as part of their qualifications.
