San Diego Business Journal

U.S. Senate confirms San Diego schools Superintendent Cindy Marten for post in Biden Administration

LEADERSHIP: Schools Superintendent Will Be Second in Command at Department of Education

By BRAD GRAVES

The U.S. Senate on May 11 approved the nomination of Cindy Marten as Deputy Secretary of Education in the Biden Administration. The vote was 54-44.

Marten previously served as superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District.

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona issued a statement saying he was “grateful for today's confirmation.”

Marten's office said she will prepare to transition from San Diego to Washington, D.C.

Marten was honored with the San Diego Business Journal 2018 Business Woman of the Year Award and was featured in the SDBJ SD 500 this past year.

Once Marten is sworn into office, she will assume the federal post after more than three decades as an educator in San Diego, including eight years as superintendent of California's second-largest district.

“My message to students has always been, ‘Work hard. Be kind. Dream big!'” Marten said in a statement issued by the school district. “The students of San Diego Unified have lived up to that challenge beyond anything I could have imagined as a young principal in City Heights, or even as the superintendent of the second-largest school district in California. National education leaders have recognized the gains our students are making. That has helped us create a better San Diego, or #BetterSD, as we like to say.”

The deputy secretary of education oversees and manages the development of policies in the United States Department of Education. The position primarily focuses on K-12 education policy and has the responsibility for carrying out the intergovernmental relations of the department. Marten would also become Acting Secretary of Education in the event of the secretary's absence or a vacancy in the Office of Secretary.

“Our top priority at the Department of Education is to reopen America's schools for in-person learning, support students' social, emotional and academic needs, and address inequities that have been exacerbated by the pandemic. I am thrilled that Cindy has accepted this challenge and I look forward to working with her as she continues to serve our nation's students as deputy secretary," Cardona said.

Marten has a master's degree in teaching and learning from the University of California, San Diego.■

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