Elizabeth Hudson
She/Her
Currently: Incumbent
Also: Lieutenant in the US Navy Reserve
Election history: seeking 2nd Committee term
She/Her
Currently: Incumbent
Also: Lieutenant in the US Navy Reserve
Election history: seeking 2nd Committee term
Elizabeth Hudson has a background in Science, Technology, and Policy.
She has recently been a CTO of a biotech venture capital firm in Boston, and served on the Advisory Board for the Harvard/Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. She is also, currently, a Lieutenant in the United States Navy Reserve.
In 2017, Elizabeth was honored as a "30 under 30" in Law & Policy by Forbes (under Elizabeth Clark-Polner). She has not worked in Education directly.
(Note: Her husband was listed as being on the advisory team of the Cambridge Citizens Coalition, who endorsed her campaign, until October 24th. That was apparently an error, and has now been corrected.)
She has 3 boys and is expecting a 4th child.
Elizabeth Hudson raised concerns about the Superintendent search as it went on, and has called the Committee leadership's "behavior, communication and decision making" "indefensible". She has also expressed that what matters is the outcome: she supports the decision to hire interim David Murphy as the Superintendent.
On the Committee, Elizabeth pushed for the return of Algebra I to school curriculum. She has spoken about the need to "disagree, but commit," both with others on the School Committee and, at times, with teaching staff. She has highlighted the problem of promoting unprepared students from grade to grade, and has said "we need to allow students to enroll in the classes that match their abilities. This is explicitly not the policy of CPS today."
Our schools represent a third of Cambridge’s municipal budget ($285 of $991M). Whether you’ve got kids in school, or you’re watching your tax bill, or you want better or more services elsewhere, for yourself or your neighbors — you care how well our programs perform.
I'm loathe to say all of this, because public schools are a public good, and I don't want to see schools segregated by income. But parents are doing what is logically right for their students. They need to make sure that their kids get a great education. And the reality is today that's not happening at a CPS middle school.
This is the direction in which the faculty wanted to go. And that means that in order to fix it, you're going to have to stand up to people and actually say, "Actually, I disagree. It doesn't work. It doesn't work here. It hasn't worked anywhere else." And there's good data now to show both of those things. And it was wrong.
But how we do it is to do just what Elizabeth Hudson and I did. We learned to understand that if the district wasn't going to do it itself, we have to force them through policy.
| Organization | Cambridge? | Union? | View |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cambridge Citizens Coalition | |||
| Cambridge Advanced Learners Association | this cycle |
Pedestrian and cycling safety, policy, infrastructure, governance
Pedestrian and cycling safety, policy, infrastructure, governance
Forum run by the Cambridge Education Association union
Forum run by the Cambridge Education Association union
A two-panel candidate night hosted by the Cambridge Advanced Learning Association focused on achievement gaps and advanced learners.
A two-panel candidate night hosted by the Cambridge Advanced Learning Association focused on achievement gaps and advanced learners.
Cambridgeport Neighborhood Association School Committee Candidate Night 2025
Cambridgeport Neighborhood Association School Committee Candidate Night 2025
“I don’t know what people are so afraid of,” Hudson said. The committee’s problem with community engagement boils down to “a lot of information and very little understanding,” when “the committee’s actions and intentions for goals are by no means self-explanatory.”
Nov. 3, 2025“I don’t know what people are so afraid of,” Hudson said. The committee’s problem with community engagement boils down to “a lot of information and very little understanding,” when “the committee’s actions and intentions for goals are by no means self-explanatory.”
The School Committee as a whole was unaware of the additional expenditure and not consulted on it, member Elizabeth Hudson told Cambridge Day.
“I had no idea. It is also my understanding that other committee members did not know. There was no full committee communication,” Hudson said. No other member responded to requests for comment emailed Thursday.
Oct. 24, 2025 — Julia CarpiThe School Committee as a whole was unaware of the additional expenditure and not consulted on it, member Elizabeth Hudson told Cambridge Day.
“I had no idea. It is also my understanding that other committee members did not know. There was no full committee communication,” Hudson said. No other member responded to requests for comment emailed Thursday.
While School Committee members were made aware of both the scam and the domestic abuse allegations earlier this summer, the group has yet to take public action based on the allegations.
According to the same district official, the School Committee decided to refrain from public comment based on informal advice from a city attorney. The official said members were advised to refrain from commenting publicly on the private lives of candidates, since it could leave the body vulnerable to a lawsuit.
Oct. 1, 2025 — Shawn A. BoehmerWhile School Committee members were made aware of both the scam and the domestic abuse allegations earlier this summer, the group has yet to take public action based on the allegations.
According to the same district official, the School Committee decided to refrain from public comment based on informal advice from a city attorney. The official said members were advised to refrain from commenting publicly on the private lives of candidates, since it could leave the body vulnerable to a lawsuit.
Committee members did not reply to requests for comment about this decision, with the exception of Elizabeth Hudson. “We did have a long list of very specific requirements that nobody met,” she said.
Sept. 29, 2025 — Julia CarpiCommittee members did not reply to requests for comment about this decision, with the exception of Elizabeth Hudson. “We did have a long list of very specific requirements that nobody met,” she said.
The district worked in 2023 to include Algebra 1 in eighth grade curricula by the 2025-2026 school year. When that failed, the path got no straighter: Member Elizabeth Hudson said a district promise to bring it back by 2025 that followed also failed, leading to a promise for the next year. “The School Committee stepped in,” Hudson said, passing a motion requiring it on the original schedule for this year.
Sept. 22, 2025 — Julia CarpiThe district worked in 2023 to include Algebra 1 in eighth grade curricula by the 2025-2026 school year. When that failed, the path got no straighter: Member Elizabeth Hudson said a district promise to bring it back by 2025 that followed also failed, leading to a promise for the next year. “The School Committee stepped in,” Hudson said, passing a motion requiring it on the original schedule for this year.
At the meeting, School Committee member Elizabeth C.P. Hudson raised concerns about a lack of transparency in the finalist selection process and pressed Simmons to explain how the finalists were chosen. Simmons responded that she would need to consult with the district’s search firm, The Equity Process, before providing an answer.
The CEA’s statement praised Hudson but asserted that no other members of the School Committee “said or did anything to answer the community’s legitimate concerns and completely failed to answer the question of how the finalists were chosen.”
Aug. 8, 2025 — Ayaan AhmadAt the meeting, School Committee member Elizabeth C.P. Hudson raised concerns about a lack of transparency in the finalist selection process and pressed Simmons to explain how the finalists were chosen. Simmons responded that she would need to consult with the district’s search firm, The Equity Process, before providing an answer.
The CEA’s statement praised Hudson but asserted that no other members of the School Committee “said or did anything to answer the community’s legitimate concerns and completely failed to answer the question of how the finalists were chosen.”
Hudson echoed Harding’s concerns over the lack of discussion and response to public comments calling for additional staff support.
“I don’t think we know how we’re utilizing all of the assets that we have,” Hudson said. “And until we take that seriously, I’m going to vote no on every single budget.”
Hudson added that the district’s failure to meet teachers’ requests for two additional paraprofessionals indicates a broader failure of CPS leadership to meet the needs of their staff.
“If we have elementary school educators who are saying ‘I need help,’ I am absolutely willing to say that I went about that in the wrong way,” she said. “My disagreements with the budget are much bigger than two positions.”
But Hudson added that increased spending must be accompanied by increased teacher evaluations.
“We have a duty to both listen to them — but then we also have a duty to the city to make sure that we are again, keeping an eye on the overall numbers, and making sure that we’re spending every one of those dollars as efficiently as we could,” she said.
April 2, 2025 — Claire A. MichalHudson echoed Harding’s concerns over the lack of discussion and response to public comments calling for additional staff support.
“I don’t think we know how we’re utilizing all of the assets that we have,” Hudson said. “And until we take that seriously, I’m going to vote no on every single budget.”
Hudson added that the district’s failure to meet teachers’ requests for two additional paraprofessionals indicates a broader failure of CPS leadership to meet the needs of their staff.
“If we have elementary school educators who are saying ‘I need help,’ I am absolutely willing to say that I went about that in the wrong way,” she said. “My disagreements with the budget are much bigger than two positions.”
But Hudson added that increased spending must be accompanied by increased teacher evaluations.
“We have a duty to both listen to them — but then we also have a duty to the city to make sure that we are again, keeping an eye on the overall numbers, and making sure that we’re spending every one of those dollars as efficiently as we could,” she said.
Hudson said she understands that “we don’t currently have a perfect platform for communication – where perfect means we reach everybody that is potentially implicated or has knowledge and experience.
“We don’t have that. Nobody has that. The question is, do we want to try to take what we have today and make it better? Or wait for that?
“This is a public listserv, that anybody can join, but not everybody knows about. And it’s only in English,” Hudson said. “If you believe that not every parent is on there, forward it to them! We’ve got two choices at that point: Take what we have and let’s make it better; or we can say, ‘let’s stop all communication here until we have the idyllic platform.’”
Dec. 16, 2024 — John HawkinsonHudson said she understands that “we don’t currently have a perfect platform for communication – where perfect means we reach everybody that is potentially implicated or has knowledge and experience.
“We don’t have that. Nobody has that. The question is, do we want to try to take what we have today and make it better? Or wait for that?
“This is a public listserv, that anybody can join, but not everybody knows about. And it’s only in English,” Hudson said. “If you believe that not every parent is on there, forward it to them! We’ve got two choices at that point: Take what we have and let’s make it better; or we can say, ‘let’s stop all communication here until we have the idyllic platform.’”