Supporters of Cindy Marten, President Biden’s nominee for Deputy U.S. Secretary of Education, laud her success in closing achievement gaps during her eight years as superintendent in San Diego. Unfortunately, such claims are false.
Linda Darling-Hammond, who led Biden’s transition team on education, cites Marten’s “enormous work” and “knowledge base on how to improve schools and close opportunity and achievement gaps” for poor and minority students as her lead qualification. When the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee holds its hearing on Marten this Wednesday, it should scrutinize that claim.
Complaints against Marten include inequitable treatment of families with special needs students, disproportionate rates of suspensions and expulsions for Black and Brown SDUSD students, financial mismanagement, mishandling sexual abuse cases, a serial lack of transparency, and retaliation against truth-tellers.
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