Cindy Marten is the United States Deputy Secretary of Education. She was appointed deputy secretary in May 2021 under President Biden and works with Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona to shape national education policy. 

Her background, however, is not in politics but in the classroom. Her 35-year-long career as an educator took her from classroom teacher to superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District in California and finally to where she is today in the U.S. Department of Education. 

In this episode, she discussed her personal journey in public education, some of the issues facing public education today, and what’s being done about them.