The San Diego Unified School District welcomed Superintendent Cindy Marten as she took office on July 1, 2013 (utsandiego.com). She has over 25 years of work experience in education as a teacher, literacy specialist, and principal. As Central Elementary’s principal for the past six years, she is commonly noted for the school’s rise in its Academic Performance Index (API) score from 631 to 788 (sandi.net). In an interview with The Commander Editor-in-Chief Emily Siegler, Marten discussed high school student achievement as well as district-wide issues.
Note: Interview has been edited and reduced.
Siegler: Are you pleased that you took the position as superintendent and with the work that you’re doing now?
Marten: I’m so honored to be able to have this role. To me, it’s doing the same work I’ve done for 27 years. It’s a different job, but whether I was a teacher, principal, vice principal, or now the superintendent, I believe heart and soul in the hope and promise of public education in America. I have the privilege of leading the work, but I am a leader among leaders and I look to the students to show us the way.
S: How have your experiences as an educator helped you so far in the job?
M: I’ve always said you can’t lead what you don’t know. I’m able to lead the fine details of this work because I’ve done it. I’ve been a teacher in a classroom, I’ve been a principal at a school, [so] I know what is needed for high quality schools, teaching, and classroom environments.
S: What skills, knowledge, and abilities would you like to see high school seniors graduating with?
M: I like all of our students to know that you are so much more than a test score. I like to say that students are going to be actively literate, contributing, participating members of society who will make a positive difference in the world. I don’t want you to just be able to read and take in information-I want you to be able to write and give out information and change the world with your understanding of how the world works.
S: What should high school students be doing to prepare for success in college and the real world?
M: Being involved in your community is so important. It’s not enough to just get great grades. Of course, academic achievement and high test scores are important for your transcript, but to be successful in life, it’s so much more than that. I know college applications ask for community service, but my advice is to do that work from your heart. Don’t just do it because you have to put something on an application. Find what your gift is and where you want to contribute that gift in your community.
S: One of your mottos is, “Work hard. Be kind. Dream big! No excuses.” How should teenagers apply this to their lives now and in the future?
M: That’s a recipe for success, not just in school, but in life. I believe that if you center yourself on working hard, being kind, dreaming big, and not allowing excuses to get in the way, you are setting yourself up to be really successful.
S: How do you plan to handle teachers who are viewed as insufficient in their performance?
M: It’s the job of the principal to support every teacher to be at their highest quality. Just like with students, there are high performers, low performers, and medium performers. In education, when we have teachers that are not working to the fullest of their ability, that’s the principal’s job to support, mentor, and coach the teacher to improve.
S: Some people say, “It’s hard to get rid of bad teachers.” Would you disagree?
M:I’ve never experienced that. As a former principal of a school, out of our employee groups and our human resources department, there’s nobody that I’ve worked with in the district that has any interest in keeping an ineffective teacher in schools. People have the perception that you can’t [fire] because of the unions. The process that you have to use to terminate a teacher is a very clear process, and employee rights are protected, but it’s not an impossible process. If somebody doesn’t belong in front of children, then somebody’s not going to be in front of children.
S: What changes should students expect to see with the further implementation of Common Core Standards?
M: You’re going to see and experience higher order thinking. Make an argument, defend an argument, stand up for a right, get a cause on your mind, and get into critical discourse and debate. Common Core Standards are a higher order of thinking, and the California State Standards are a lower order of thinking. I thought they were insulting. We want high rigorous standards for all kids [not just those in advanced classes