On the very day that I posted my view that San Diego is the best urban district in the nation, Mario Koran wrote in Voices of San Diego that Cindy Marten does not believe in hero superintendents.
He writes:
Spoiler alert, San Diegans: Cindy Marten isn’t a hero who has swooped in to save your children.
If that sounds a little bristly, consider this: She doesn’t think students need saving.
“The idea of saving anyone from anything is disempowering, disenfranchising and kind of arrogant, actually,” Marten said. “People need to be supported, empowered, guided, led, understood, believed in, honored, listened to – not saved.”
The post refers to the rise and fall of Michelle Rhee and to an article about Mike Miles, who arrived in Dallas as a swashbuckling superstar, then found himself fighting for his job only a year later.
What is truly wonderful about Cindy is that she is a normal person. She is real. She was a successful principal. She is a professional educator. She knows she doesn’t have all the answers. She has a straightforward belief that leadership involves listening, not dictating. She is not a hero. She is an intelligent, compassionate, experienced, wise leader.
If only every school board would look for that kind of leadership instead of seeking the ones who promise to disrupt the district, close schools, give everyone new marching orders, and blow up everything. Schools, children, families, communities need stability and wise leadership. That is what Cindy Marten offers.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Love this:
“The idea of saving anyone from anything is disempowering, disenfranchising and kind of arrogant, actually,” Marten said. “People need to be supported, empowered, guided, led, understood, believed in, honored, listened to – not saved.”
Ms. Marten has a superb crap detector! 🙂
My first thought was: HOW DO WE LURE HER TO LA? Then I realized that this is not very ethical. However, K wish Superintendent Marten would contact me, Robert Skeels and /or Ellen Lubic with some suggestions for Deasy’s replacement.
Don’t remind me he has a contract that stretches another few years. As Deasy himself has proven, contracts are easily defiled and betrayed. Need proof? Loo at the mess he is making of the CBA with his RIFs, Teacher Jails, reconstitutions, displacements and mad recruitment of TFA interns and under qualified subs. Thousands of teachers are evidence of how easily one can commandeer constitutional rights in this out-modern nightmare. Okay, it is also tru that we are all equal but some of usage more equal than others, which means when Deasy’s rights are trampled on it is more important than the rights of his victims. However, that contract is probably free of ever acne and a termination an probably be implemented to that does ot violate the agreement ( as happened in Brewers’ departure which was engineered soon after he began planning the districts dismantling into smaller districts, he was given $2 million to shut up and get lost, which he did but he was not pleased ) . I bet a simple audit would be enough to throw Deasy out . Maybe throw him into prison too.
Whatever th case, he is not going to last much longer. We need to get on top of this now. So Supt. Marten, help your sister city out and give us the names of who can clean up this mess and start new with the lost angels in the city of night. http://www.hemlockontherocks.com
PS curse that auto correct on my iPhone!
Given the San Diego school district’s recent history, it is interesting that San Diego area administrators have been flocking to the Los Angeles Unified School District. Unfortunately said administrators are not the “cream of the crop”. They are thoroughly committed to the corporate reformist school of administration.
What times we live in when—
“One must think like a hero to behave like a merely decent human being.” [May Sarton]
😎
KTA,
Diane wrote “She is real.”
Perhaps because she isn’t rheal but real her behaving “like a decent human being” seems so extraordinary.
Indeed, KrazyTA. What kind of times do we live in when rational leadership by a decent human being is newsworthy? Hard to wrap my head around why this sort of leadership would be so rare and noteworthy.
The good news is that, although he’s still here, Dallas is done with Mike Miles and “hero” superintendents. Scandal after scandal and the corruption investigation have rendered Miles irrelevant and disrespected.
People here now think he’s just the latest in a long line of corrupt liars taking tax dollars; he’s no “hero” to anyone. He made fools out of the business people who put up billboards welcoming him. He made every politician and community spokesperson who urged others to give him the benefit of the doubt after his disastrous start live to regret their words.
The White Rock/Lakewood area (an affluent, historic part of Dallas with wonderful architecture and homes) is trying to secede from Dallas ISD and Miles’ “reforms.” The politicians, only interested in the campaign donations and votes, are getting the message from wealthy Lakewooders that Miles is not acceptable.
Dallas is conservative, but in a family-schools-churches kind of way and not in a give-us-vouchers kind of way. Miles has failed to build up and promote neighborhood schools.
People here find his marriage situation (wife and child moved back to Colorado last summer) suspicious and undefined and therefore impossible to respect.
San Diego’s superintendent sounds like heaven on Earth to those of us in Dallas.
*yes, Miles did make all teachers his convocation the Friday before school started on Monday a year ago August. We could not work in our rooms to get ready for school.
*yes, his power point was one movie clip after another, leading most to wonder if this grown man knew the difference between movies and real-life.
*yes, he gave a short speech at the end of his power point with “inspirational” music playing in the background. It was embarrassing because inspirational music doesn’t play in the background in real-life.
Interesting article. Diane Ravitch – please take a look at artvoice.com, an alternative publication to the Buffalo News, at the article School Fantasies (January 2, 2014, Volume 13, Issue 1). Bruce Fisher, former Deputy County Executive and current Director of Economic and Policy Studies at Buff State, writes an interesting article stating that the strongest correlation between student and test scores is household income. He accurately describes the situation in Buffalo, and even asks for your help to combat the forces calling for additional charter schools. I hope you will take a look.
One reality: school boards make the decision to hire superintendents. In too many urban areas “hero mayors” have been given carte blanche in hiring decisions and they often run with the expressed desire to “run the schools like a business”. What most voters don’t realize is that the failure rate among start-up businesses in health and education sector is 44% (see http://www.statisticbrain.com/startup-failure-by-industry/)— and the reason they don’t know this is that it is seldom reported in the media and certainly not disclosed by those running on the “business-can-do-it-better” platform. In many communities voters are indifferent to school board elections, which often results the seats going to members of the public who are only interested in keeping taxes low… and in too many cases these board members are attracted to the “business-can-do-it-better” ethos. The bottom line: if you want good schools, keep control in the hands of elected boards and recruit and vote for good board members.
Cindy Marten may not be a hero superintendent, but she has an enlightened view.
Not sure if she has an enlightened view when it appears to be a very common sense view. Sad that what should be “normal”, common, everyday is seen as enlightened.
http://voiceofsandiego.org/2014/01/08/if-san-diego-schools-are-the-best-in-the-u-s-the-u-s-is-screwed/. Scott Lewis disagrees that San Diego is one of the best. I would be interested what you think about his stance that this is a “sad honor” based on presumptions that parent choice out of neighborhood schools because they are so poor.
I hear Martens will be forcing outstanding students to attend their neighborhood schools, rather then allowing them to go on buses to better schools that aren’t gang infested.
I talked to a teacher from SD City Schools who said she already is hearing chatter that Martens is starting to be being labelled as a naive kindergarten teacher, who will lose support of the community next year when students start getting beat up by their neighborhood gangs during school hours. Ultimately, the lawsuits will cost the taxpayers a lot of money.
I am a Parent and chair of the School Site Council at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts and can tell you first hand that the placement of this Elementary Principal Cindy Marten into the Superintendent position of the 2nd largest school district in California has been a disaster in my opinion. I have become so disgusted with the process that I started a Blog to itemize the multiple blunders, oversights and poorly thought out strategies this so called Superintendent has implemented. Her catchphrase is “Work Hard. Be Kind. Dream Big! No Excuses.” but it should be “Work Hard, Suck Up, Shut Up, or Be Fired”
This is Frank Engle again…The WordPress Blog I started is District Deeds -http://districtdeeds.wordpress.com/
After a year, opinion is changing in San Diego, about Cindy Marten’s competence. I think she was picked by two members of the school board, to be their puppet. One a right wing, anti-union, balance the budget, extremist, who suggested she cut one Full Time Employee at every school, the last week of school, by e-mailing principals the notice..chaos…as mostly the English Language Support teachers were cut..a program she said she would put more money and support into.
The other board member, a left wing, labor extremist…who hoped to nail down a Labor Council of San Diego presidency, by associating with Cindy’s best friend, Bob Filner..He succeeded, Bob Filner didn’t..but lots of chaos from the tug-o-war between the two factions, Cindy listening to both…
Cindy just fired a principal, because one of the board member’s children couldn’t behave at school. When the community reacted against Ms. Marten, they were lied to and stonewalled…and when the principal threatened to get a lawyer, Cindy lied about her reason for removing her and promoted her to a district office job..
If that isn’t against the law…It should be.
Did you know that “Cindy Marten is a 9-11 soldier for education”? Search that phrase and read that story…Troubling…
Do go to Districtdeeds.wordpress.com…Frank Engle, a parent who cares about children, no political agenda, just a community voice, who speaks the truth.