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New Cambridge School Committee member signed agreement to never work for the city
Luisa de Paula Santos resigned from Cambridge Public Schools, which she will now oversee as a member of the Cambridge School Committee.
A newly elected Cambridge School Committee member, who is part of a major union-endorsed overhaul of the body, resigned from her job at a Cambridge public school and signed an agreement this summer to never work for the district again.
Luisa de Paula Santos worked as a special education paraeducator at the Fletcher Maynard Academy until July 2025. Santos, who touted herself as the only current public school educator on the ballot in this year’s school committee race, was voted in as a member of the School Committee in a crowded race just a few months later.
“I ran for this office because I cared deeply about our community and the state of the environment in which our students are being prepared for the future,” Santos told Boston.com when asked about the separation agreement. “My message resonated with voters.”
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Santos told The Boston Globe, which first reported on the unusual agreement for an incoming elected official, that she resigned after “bogus” accusations about “not handling a student situation properly.” She also alleged the investigation and allegations were “retaliation against (her) activism in the teacher’s union” and school officials “were just trying to build a case to not renew (her),” per the Globe.
A spokesperson for the school district declined to comment, citing personnel matters.
According to a separation agreement obtained by Boston.com, Santos submitted a resignation letter June 11 and stayed on paid administrative leave until July 31, when her resignation took effect. She also agreed to “neither seek nor accept employment with the city, including the CPS, in the future.”
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A spokesperson for the City of Cambridge said its “Law Department has acknowledged that being elected by voters as a City Councilor or School Committee member differs from someone applying for a position and getting hired by the City.” School Committee members earn a salary of $49,122.
“I was subjected to a really unfair and biased investigation,” Santos told the Globe. When asked about what prompted the separation agreement, Santos told Boston.com that “paraprofessionals are a form of contingent staff. They can be non-renewed without cause.”
The School Committee determines overall school policy, hires and oversees the superintendent, and allocates the $280 million budget. The committee also negotiates with the teacher’s union.
‘I’m going to be an organizer first and foremost’: Santos claims resignation was retaliation for union organizing
The School Committee, made up of six members and the mayor, will include three incumbents and three newly elected candidates, all endorsed by the Cambridge Education Union. Santos, who has a background as a union organizer, now works for Somerville schools as a paraprofessional.
The School Committee recently hired Superintendent David Murphy, who was already serving in the interim superintendent, after terminating former Superintendent Victoria Greer a year before her contract expired. After the closure of an elementary school this year, the Committee wanted the consistency of longer tenure, members said.
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Starting in January, Santos will join fellow CEA-endorsed members Caitlin Dube and Arjun Jaikumar. Elizabeth Hudson, Richard Harding, Jr., and David Weinstein were all reelected.
“I feel like if I get elected to the School Committee, I’m going to be an organizer first and foremost,” Santos, who earned degrees from Amherst College and Tufts, said during a candidate conversation in September.
“This action is clearly an attempt to try and minimize the voices of those who have asked me to serve and to ensure that their children are receiving the education that they need. At the end of the day, this action is the exact sort of conduct that voters in Cambridge want to address. And I intend to do so next year after I am sworn in,” Santos said.
On the campaign trail, Santos emphasized her experience working at Fletcher Maynard, the highest-need school in the district. During a candidate conversation in September, she said she worked with neurodivergent students but “faced firsthand the systemic failures in our district.”
“I ran for this office because I cared deeply about our community and the state of the environment in which our students are being prepared for the future. My message resonated with voters,” Santos told Boston.com. “This action is clearly an attempt to try and minimize the voices of those who have asked me to serve and to ensure that their children are receiving the education that they need.”
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The CEA did not return a request for comment about the allegations against Santos.
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