Amid Wide Praise For Cindy Marten, San Diego NAACP Hits Biden Pick For Post

San Diego CA

19 January, 2021

5:29 PM

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By Ken Stone, Times of San Diego January 18, 2021 Praise for San Diego Unified schools chief Cindy Marten has poured in after her nomination to a federal education post was announced Monday. Mayor Todd Gloria called it "a great pick" by President-elect Joe Biden for deputy education secretary, saying: "I'm excited that San Diego will be at the table in the new administration." Current and former school board members were unified in support of Marten as were a variety of business and education groups. Even a former student chimed in. "Cindy Marten was my second-grade teacher," tweeted Jacob Reed. "She is a wonderful, thoughtful, and inclusive person and a fierce advocate of disability rights." But the NAACP's San Diego chapter and community activist Tasha Williamson, the former mayor candidate, issued bruising statements opposing the Marten nomination. Katrina Hasan Hamilton, the local NAACP's education chair, said: "Educators at all levels must have a track record of dismantling the harmful practices of Anti-Black Racism that occur in schools. Cindy Marten has a historical pattern of allowing the excessive suspension and expulsion of Black students in San Diego." Addressing Biden, Hamilton continued: "With all of the qualified educators we have in our nation, this is not a good choice for healing Black students, families and educators, nor is it a step in the right direction for repairing harm in our schools." In a Facebook post Monday morning, Williamson said Biden couldn't have made a worse choice than Marten. "She has committed so many atrocities against children, parents and staff!" Williamson said. "I think everyone impacted should write a letter to Washington and send it to me to be provided in a packet with others!" Marten, she said, "is horrible and continued the legacy of racism." On a Zoom news conference, school board president Richard Barrera was asked his response to Williamson. He said: "What we've seen today is an outpouring of support for Cindy's nomination and particularly for her work in advancing equity from her time as a principal at Central Elementary and in this district. That's the only response I'll have." (The news conference was held before the NAACP registered its opposition.) Another national group was enthusiastic for Marten. Michael Casserly, executive director of Washington-based Council of the Great City Schools, said: "Cindy Marten will be the perfect complement to Secretary-designate Miguel Cardona. Both have been school-level leaders and thoroughly understand the complexities of public education at the state and local levels like few other leadership teams in the department's history." He said Marten has boosted graduation rates and developed a reputation for excellence, collaboration and fairness among stakeholders. "[She] has led the school systems to be among the fastest improving urban school systems in the nation on the National Assessment of Educational Progress," he said in a statement. Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, a former educator being elevated to California secretary of state, called Marten "a great voice for our students and educators. Thank you for your equity work, spanning 31 years in education." In her own message Monday, Marten said she had already spoken with Education Secretary-designate Miguel Cardona, "and I have never been more optimistic about the future of the American education system." In a note to district families, she said she shared excerpts from a poem — "Continue" — by Maya Angelou "that I have turned to many times during the current crisis for inspiration." "I encourage you to read the poem with your family today, of all days, as we remember the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.," Marten said. Some early reaction included comments from San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan and former school board member John Lee Evans: State schools chief Tony Thurmond, who chose Marten for a superintendents advisory board, called it "a great day for California and our nation, and I am proud to call you a colleague and friend." UC San Diego and the San Diego Chamber of Commerce added their congrats. Rabbi Laurie Coskey, executive director of the San Diego Continuing Education Foundation, called Marten a "teacher's teacher who knows how to lead with authenticity and compassion." Times of San Diego is an independent online news site covering the San Diego metropolitan area. Our journalists report on politics, crime, business, sports, education, arts, the military and everyday life in San Diego. No subscription is required, and you can sign up for a free daily newsletter with a summary of the latest news.