After spending nearly four decades in classrooms and school offices, Jim Murphy says it’s time educators had a loud voice in the policies that shape Newton Public Schools.

Murphy, 64, a retired teacher and administrator, is running for the Ward 8 seat on the Newton School Committee with a clear mission: repair relationships and increase transparency.

In the past five years, Newton schools have endured the pandemic, a teacher’s strike and a budget crisis, leaving the community divided on the path forward. Tensions remain high between educators and district leadership. As an educator and school administrator for 38 years, Murphy said his perspective is exactly what the school committee has been missing. 

“There’s this silly idea that an educator on a school board is somehow a conflict of interest,” Murphy said. “It’s important to have the voices of people who have done that work and know what it looks like.” 

With Amy Davenport no longer on the Newton School Committee, the board has no former educators among its members. Davenport, a former teacher and high school principal, was elected in Ward 7 in 2023 but stepped down in September 2024.

Murphy has faced criticism that his background in education could make him biased toward teachers. He firmly rejects that claim.

“The school committee in Newton needs educators,” he said. “My experience as both a teacher and administrator gives me insight into how policy becomes something in the classroom.” 

From attending parent-teacher meetings to managing budgets and evaluating curriculum as a department director, Murphy said he has learned how to bridge competing interests. 

Murphy started his career teaching at an alternative school in Dorchester and finished as the grades 6-12 social studies director in Weymouth. He’s introduced debate teams, coached softball, and sat through countless parent-teacher conferences and budget meetings. Through it all, he said, he’s learned to bridge competing interests.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in social thought and political economy from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a master’s degree in teaching and curriculum from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Murphy is continuing his education as a PhD candidate in the School for Global Inclusion and Social Development at UMass Boston, working on his dissertation in civic education in Massachusetts. 

Originally from Weymouth, Murphy has roots in the Boston area that go back generations. He’s been a Newton resident for 18 years, living with his wife, a lifelong Newton resident. While the couple doesn’t have children, Murphy says his commitment to education stems from decades of working with students and families.

After dedicating most of his life to teaching and learning about the education system, Murphy said running for the Newton School Committee felt like an obvious next step.

“I continue to have a strong belief that people need to be involved in their communities,” Murphy said, “so I spent a long time teaching people that’s what they should be doing. In retirement, I wanted to continue to walk the walk.” 

Jim Murphy is running for the Ward 8 seat on Newton’s School Committee. Photo by Bryan McGonigle

Budget breakdown

While he knew he would eventually run, recent backlash to Newton’s fiscal 2026 budget inspired Murphy to take action. “The budget allocated by the mayor’s office would require layoffs and stalling programs that were beginning to show success,” Murphy said. “And the current school committee wasn’t pushing back.”

”There needs to be a true accounting of what it means to be educating kids,” he said. Murphy knows how many important costs get missed in the school budget. For example, he said, every school has a nurse, but money to pay for nurses isn’t included in the official budget.

“The first thing about budgeting is better transparency,” Murphy said. “What money is available, and where is money needed? We need truer figures instead of pretending certain costs don’t exist and allocating future budgets based on that.” 

Vision for reform

In 2023, Newton Public Schools introduced the “Portrait of a Graduate” initiative, emphasizing core values the community wants to see in students. This student is adaptable, with strong critical thinking skills, a learner’s mindset and empathy. 

And according to Murphy, this student can’t exist under Newton’s current education system. “It does not match up,” he said. 

“This is not just a Newton issue; education has long needed some changes,” Murphy said. “We are still trying to make a 19th-century education system work in the 21st.” 

If elected, Murphy said, he would focus on curriculum reform that includes broad input from parents, administrators, committee members and teachers. 

“Top of the agenda is repairing these relationships,” Murphy said. “We need to get back to the place where everybody’s on the same team.”

This story is part of a partnership between the Newton Beacon and the Boston University Department of Journalism.