The Biden administration selected San Diego Superintendent of Schools Cindy Marten to become Deputy Secretary of Education, the #2 job in the Department of Education.
She has a long career as a teacher, as principal of a high-poverty school in San Diego, and as Superintendent of the state’s second largest district since 2013.
Louis Freedberg of Edsource describes her career in this article.
Marten has been superintendent of San Diego Unified since 2013. But before that she had been a teacher for 17 years, as well as principal of San Diego’s Central Elementary School, a school in the diverse City Heights neighborhood where 96% of students qualify for free and reduced-priced meals.
It was after several years at Central Elementary that she made the virtually unheard of jump from an elementary school principal to being superintendent of her district — not just any district, but the second-largest district in California and the 20th-largest in the nation.
Derrick Johnson, President of the national NAACP, tweeted his support for her candidacy.
The San Diego chapter of the NAACP, strong supporters of charter schools, has criticized Cindy Marten for the high suspension rates of black students (black students are 4% of the SD enrollment but 12% of suspensions). The critics do not note that the San Diego school board passed a resolution to replace suspensions with programs of restorative justice, which will drive down suspension rates.
No such voices complained about John King, when he was nominated to be Secretary of Education by the Obama administration, after Arne Duncan stepped down. King’s no-excuses charter school in Massachusetts had the highest suspension rate in the nation (nearly 60%), but no one mentioned it. He was “the king of suspensions,” but no one cared.
Marten is committed to child-centered education, with a heaping dose of the arts and play. She is a worthy choice to serve as Deputy Secretary of Education.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
John King’s school, Roxbury Prep Charter, continues to have dismally high rates of suspension for its Black and Latino students. Despite having been placed on notice by the state department of education, it hasn’t been shut down, you know, as we were promised would happen when a school didn’t meet standards.
For 2019-2020 SY, the suspension rate for Black students was 10.4%, for Latino students 7.7%, for White students, 0%. To be fair, they have only 22 White kids of 1661 total students.
https://profiles.doe.mass.edu/ssdr/default.aspx?orgcode=04840000&orgtypecode=5&=04840000&
That an improvement over 2018-2019 SY, with Black suspensions of 17.8% and Latino at 14.$%. White again at 0% – 17 of 1665 students.
https://profiles.doe.mass.edu/ssdr/default.aspx?orgcode=04840000&orgtypecode=5&=04840000&&fycode=2019
Boston’s public schools had suspension rates of Black – 3.8%, Latino 2.6% and White 1.0% in SY 2019-2020. Black students were 29% of population, Latinos 43% and White 15%.
https://profiles.doe.mass.edu/ssdr/default.aspx?orgcode=00350000&orgtypecode=5&=00350000&
Let’s hope Cardona listens to her.
I googled the comment of Frank Engle..I was suspicious of what he said about Cindy Marten:This article about Marten could not be further from the truth. Apparently the writer just rearranged the Marten SDUSD propaganda document.
Marten had virtually zero management, finance/budget, human resources, and district level leadership, experience or other executive level credentials to manage a $1.4 billion operation. The SDUSD has over 16,000 employees. Marten had managed no more than 20 employees at an elementary school that actually lagged below state standards.
Googling Mr. Engle I found this:
Mr. Engle has over 20 years of marketing, sales, and customer service management experience with small, medium and Fortune 500 level companies. Mr. Engle was a key member of historical launch efforts including the launch of DirecTV while employed as a Senior Customer Sales and Service Manager by Hughes Electronics, the launch of Rembrandt Toothpaste
Marten sounds like a good choice to me. I think I can recognize propaganda…small,…medium and large.
Mr. Prichard – This is Frank Engle and “apparently” you are wrong.
The comment I wrote is absolutely true and exactly what I have been saying in my District Deeds blog since 2014. Your Google search must have also presented that fact.
I do not hide my identity.
Yes I have an extensive business background, the past 35 years, 20 of which in my own consulting business analyzing the performance of small medium and large companies including Fortune 500, State governments and other organizations down to 5 person offices.
If you had read my biography in the blog, you would have found that I have also been a San Diego Unified Parent and volunteer for over 20 years serving in various positions on numerous SDUSD committees and panels including during the disastrous Marten tenure. i have provided analysis pro bono for the district as a volunteer in Tiger Teams for issues like Visual and Performing Arts, Title 1, Custodial Services and Busing/Transportation
Propaganda? No, just the truth for and by the San Diego Unified Stakeholders including Students, Parents, Principals, Teachers, Staff, and Taxpayers.
Propaganda? Marten is the one with the multimillion dollar “Community Relations” department that reports to the multimillion dollar Legal Department that defends her from hundreds of stakeholder lawsuits and pays off the out of court settlements.
To have that type of taxpayer funded protection, that is BIG Propaganda
Marten is the one who when asked UNDER OATH if sexual activity between Kindergarteners is a “serious incident” said that “It Depends”
Marten has won two awards…the Wall Award from San Diego journalists for not valuing “openness and transparency” and the Golden Fleece Award from the San Diego Taxpayers Association for financial mismanagement (a $124 million dollar budget deficit) and hiding the financial/operational errors from taxpayers.
BTW- I am voter registered as “No Party Preference”.
We take no money from any donors, we do not sell advertising. Every penny of the $100+ per year we pay WordPress for hosting the blog comes from my pocket. We have told the stories of thousands of Families, Students, Teachers, Principals, and Staff including Whistleblowers (in their own words) abused under Marten and backed it up with facts proving her financial and operational incompetence, corruption and lies.
We even proved Marten’s BFF Ms. Ravitch wrong on this very blog when she defended Marten acquiring an MRAP armored vehicle for the SDUSD Police Department. Of course, that set of comments were deleted by Ms. Ravitch…just like this one will be. Fortunately, we copied them before she was able to do so and you can read them on District Deeds We are also copying this response for posterity.
I look forward to providing you and any other readers (if they get to see this) other information to support the total disqualification of Marten as Sec Dep of Ed. You can contact me via the email address posted in the blog.
Hello again Diane! I was actually interviewed by Louis Freedberg and quoted in that very article about Cindy Marten. I teach just up the street from where she taught at Central Elementary and also am an advisory committee member to Edsource. I agree that she is a terrific pick and have written to that effect. She’s also a champion of public schools and for what you and I believe public schools can look like, feel like and be for kids. She’ll bring a conscience to DC for sure.
Thanks, Thomas.
I am a very engaged parent with two children in the SDUSD. I do not support this appointment. I suggest you dive deeper – A LOT deeper. This nomination is far from deserving.
https://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/education/what-cindy-martens-rise-tells-us-about-the-state-of-education-politics/
Cindy Marten knew that San Diego had gone through hell (“reform”) funded by Bill Gates and Eli Broad, who installed an attorney as superintendent. Many teachers and administrators left, morale hit the bottom, every indicator went down. Read chapter 2 of my book “The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education.” Learn about those “reformers” who crushed everyone in the system in their mad pursuit of higher test scores. They hired consultants from NY. They brought in outsiders to “fix” San Diego. Cindy Marten’s appointment was a response to the San Diego “reform” nightmare. She said we can fix what’s wrong without importing experts from other cities. Good on her! By the way, San Diego now has one of the lowest suspension rates for African American students in the state. During Marten’s tenure, the suspension rate for AA students has declined by 15 percent, according to state data.
Typically in the past, the U.S. Department of Education has a governor as Secretary and a businessman as Deputy Secretary. What a relief it is to have two educators at the top.
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Frank is telling the truth. Ask teachers from San Diego about layoffs, curriculum and age discrimination.
Cindy Marten is among the best urban superintendents in the nation. A coordinated campaign against her was launched by charter school zealots because she had the temerity to expect charter schools to meet the same standards as public schools. Ignore the negative chatter. She is terrific.