What Cindy Marten’s Rise Tells Us About the State of Education Politics
Cindy Marten embodies a new guiding principle in national education politics: The way to a better public school system does not lie in criticizing its faults, but relentless positivity about its promise.
Illustration by Adriana Heldiz
In October 2013, Cindy Marten had been superintendent for fewer than four months. She stood in Kearny High School’s auditorium and made a case for a shining new world of public education that would sweep away the past era of reforms.
“I think 20 years from now we might look back on this past decade and wonder what happened – wonder how could we have allowed this to happen to our children and nation, when we became mesmerized by a single score as the one and only measure of a quality public education,” she said.