A conversation with ... Cindy Marks
CSBA’s president-elect is poised to lead ‘with fresh energy, commitment and passion’
By:
Laurie Weidner, APR, M.A.
Cindy Marks, a board member in the Modesto City School District in Stanislaus County, is the 2012 president-elect of the California School Boards Association. She has been serving on her local board since 1997 and has been on CSBA’s Board of Directors since 2004.
Her dedication to education—and children—is evident in conversation. In fact, she ranks a “genuine passion” for the two first and foremost among the qualifications needed for local school board members. But she also calls on governance teams to develop the analytical skills needed to understand the data as well as the critical leadership skills needed to put that passion and knowledge to work most effectively.
“I see CSBA working to provide training and discussion opportunities for board members to learn how to effectively enhance the learning environment,” Marks says in this interview. “In the end, finding solutions to closing the achievement gap, lowering the dropout rates and engaging each and every student to perform to his or her greatest potential is vital to the future of California.”
Marks has put her dedication to work in Modesto, reaching out to the community in many ways; she’s personally mentored students who were among those at greatest risk of dropping out, and seen nearly all go on to walk the stage at high school graduation. At the same time, she and her husband, Robert, have raised three children of their own.
This interview took place (and this magazine went to press) before the fate of Propositions 30 and 38, the revenue measures benefiting schools, was decided, but Marks was already looking ahead.
“At CSBA we’ve talked a lot about the need for planned, stable and predictable funding—something that fell by the wayside during the Great Recession,” Marks says. “Well, that was then and this is now, and we need to drive that dialogue even more, leading a new charge in our communities and with our legislators with fresh energy, commitment and passion. We need to train ourselves on how best to influence local and state leaders—and then resolve to just do it.”
When you first ran for CSBA’s Executive Committee, one of your main areas of focus was the importance of leadership for local school board members. How can school board members today most effectively demonstrate leadership at a local and state level?
When I was elected to the school board in Modesto 15 years ago, the focus was almost exclusively on governance leadership, which continues to be the top priority for school board members. Back then, we focused primarily on the welfare of children, on implementing national standards and on figuring out how to fund the many unfunded mandates. While those priorities haven’t changed, what has changed is that today’s schools are grossly underfunded. In defining leadership for today’s school board member, I would certainly start with that same critical governance role that is needed to initiate and implement policies that create the best possible learning environment for children. But I would expand the definition to include the critical role we have as public advocates for education in our communities. It is crucial that we embrace this role, and that we actively engage and encourage local business and community leaders and groups to support our schools.
Do today’s school board members need a different set of qualities and skills than perhaps was required in the past?
There’s no question that certain skills are vital to successful service on a school board. First and foremost, though, school board members have to have a genuine passion for children, and for helping them to receive the best education possible through the public school system. With that foundation, most of the skills and knowledge needed to be effective can be learned. Fortunately, CSBA offers a host of important training opportunities and resources to help board members grow in their knowledge and ability to lead and make good local policy decisions. In addition, in these challenging times, it is crucial for school board members to be fearless in publicly advocating for kids and education. In this era where we are fighting for every dollar, every board member needs to courageously champion what is right with schools and boldly pursue partnerships, resources and solutions that will help us create the best learning conditions for all students.
It sounds as if you are saying that to be effective leaders school board members need to foster relationships? Do you think that relationship-building is critical to school board leadership today?
Absolutely! This past year, CSBA expanded its policy reach with a focus on community schools and Linked Learning. Relationships are foundational to closing the achievement gap. When I joined the school board, it was in the post-1990 recession years. That was our first real wake-up call to the fact that schools couldn’t do it alone. With the school funding crisis at a historic level, the success of our local schools is squarely dependent on the relationships we foster with local government, business, local social service agencies, and other partners. We all want our children to grow into productive, contributing adults, but we don’t have the staff, funds or resources to do this alone. The more effective partnerships or relationships we can foster, the more successful we—and our children—will be.
Speaking of leadership, members might like to know more about your style of leadership. How would you describe it?
I am a relationship builder and problem solver. I believe that we can accomplish more through understanding where we come from and what we can agree on than we can by arguing over our differences. I value other people’s opinions, even if I disagree with them, and enjoy working diligently toward a common goal. I am enthusiastic, flexible and action oriented, all of which enables me to focus on a current situation in a caring and energetic way. Because I am a problem solver, I can quickly assess situations, and then search for solutions that work well for those involved.
How have you used your leadership skills to advance public education? Do you have a special area of interest or passion?
I am passionate about helping the at-risk youth in our community. For several years, I have been involved in mentoring at-risk youth and gang members in the most dangerous neighborhood in Modesto. Through that experience, I have learned that students will work hard to attain high standards if they know we care for and believe in them and give them opportunities to succeed. Of the high-risk students I have mentored, 88 percent graduated from high school.
I also formed a committee of Modesto residents and leaders who recruited community members to mentor students in our schools, with a specific goal of finding people to go into our highest-needs schools and work with students one-on-one two or three times a month.
I also initiated three “dropout summits” in collaboration with the Stanislaus County Office of Education in order to help staff and students dialogue. Through that effort, there has been a greater understanding of why students leave school and what we can do to ensure they complete their high school education.
Helping at-risk youth succeed in school has become a priority in the greater Modesto community, and numerous individuals and groups now are mentoring youth. We are seeing positive results, from greater attendance and better classroom behavior to higher achievement.
What roles to do you see CSBA playing in preparing boards to do their best work?
CSBA has always been known for its exceptional training, and under the leadership of Executive Director Vernon Billy, changes are under way to make the Masters in Governance training program even more relevant and effective. It is critically important for new board members to enroll in CSBA training. Many new board members are still learning their new roles and responsibilities, so it’s important that they sign up immediately and avail themselves of all the resources that CSBA has to offer. Local governance teams should play important roles in identifying and fostering partnerships and advancing the public school agenda. Because most of us aren’t always comfortable in that role, CSBA is working on training models to help board members develop the skills needed to expand their influence.
In the coming year, we’ll continue to focus on training school board members to be strong leaders—not just as policymakers on their boards, but as people of influence in their communities and with their legislators.
Your interest in diversity and in different backgrounds of students complements CSBA’s own growing interest in diversity. The Board of Directors has established a Leadership and Diversity working group. In your term as president, you’ll have this group to advise you and the board. What goals do you have?
This working group was established last year in order to ensure that pathways to leadership are fully accessible to our diverse membership. We as school board members and leaders in our community will need to be able to address the changing demographics of our students and encourage leaders in our communities to step up and be part of that dialogue.
Recently, CSBA also created the Council of Presidents, which I have been involved in this last year. It was formed in order to create a partnership with ethnic school board member associations or coalitions. We’re trying to identify and take action on issues of mutual interest and benefit, which I believe is important. Being able to sit down and have a dialogue with the presidents and vice presidents of the different ethnic associations opens a door to share information on any critical issues that might be affecting K-12 education. The Council of Presidents, [CSBA’s] directors at large, and others in our membership can help us determine best practices that CSBA can use as models for closing the achievement gap. We need to ask ourselves what is it we are missing, what can we do better, what cultural understandings do we need and how can we respond to those needs so that every child feels safe, loved and encouraged to achieve at their highest potential? Finding new ways to dialogue will help us to understand the needs of our students and how best we as the leaders in our communities can and should respond.
For me, it’s been a really great opportunity to have a more sincere, open dialogue … in the dynamic of learning about one another’s background and cultural experience, to come together and say, “What’s best for the kids in California? What can we do that will benefit these students and give them the best education we can possibly give?”
Schools have become data-driven places and some people believe that we’ve become too focused on test-taking. What do you think?
We live in an age of accountability and shouldn’t shy away from learning how to make use of the data that is available. It can help to inform school board members on how best to set policy, on what goals the school district should have and on how best to work with the superintendent to meet those goals. Our boards need to become not only comfortable with data but also proficient in using it to render sound governance decisions for students. Board members should be trying to see the story behind the data to determine if their district can do a better job in closing the achievement gap.
How do you feel school boards can better use data in their role as governance leaders?
Above everything else, data should be used to improve programs and services to students. There has been considerable discussion about teaching efficiency and whether student performance data should be used to measure teacher effectiveness. This is an area we need to continue to explore, even if it is controversial. With the implementation of Common Core less than two years away, this is a dialogue we need to lead now with our administrators and local union leaders. Governance teams will be using data to carefully monitor and assess student progress toward the attainment of the Common Core standards. Our efforts stand the risk of failing if we don’t partner with our teachers and use the data, in concert with professional development and mentoring, to help them gain more skills and improve their techniques to support their students.
Do you feel that districts are using the available data wisely now?
That’s a tricky question. There’s no question, we have access to data that we never had before. That can be a benefit if it’s used properly or a curse if it isn’t. As board members, we need to know the context in which we lead, which data to ask for, and then what to do with it once we have it. I think board members, thanks to CSBA’s efforts, are getting better at using data in their efforts. And that’s important, as the data is not only important to us but to parents, who want to understand more about standardized testing and the efforts we are making to initiate reforms.
Since California is changing in its demographics, how do you see school board members responding?
We need to be fully aware of those changes, and more responsive and sensitive to the cultural needs of our students. It is important for all of us to be well informed of the needs of the students and families we serve. I have visited numerous cultural groups and celebrated their successes and mourned their losses. I have worked with the county office of education and those in specific segments of our community to solve problems of high dropout rates, high expulsion rates and to help close the achievement gap.
CSBA has provided me with numerous opportunities to gain greater knowledge and understanding of the needs of our diverse population including participation in workshops at the Celebrating Opportunities Conference and Unity Conference. There are a vast number of opportunities for stepping outside our comfort zones and learning how to be more effective in our endeavors to provide an excellent education for all of California’s students.
I see CSBA working to provide training and discussion opportunities for board members to learn how to effectively enhance the learning environment for the increasingly diverse student population. In the end, finding solutions to close the achievement gap, lower the dropout rates and engage each and every student to perform to his or her greatest potential is vital to the future of California.
How do you get everyone—from legislators to business leaders to taxpayers—to understand that the stakes are high, that education is key to California’s future?
We need to support the grassroots advocacy effort that is being advanced by CSBA, with each of us doing our part. As school board members, we need to be that unified voice that comes together to talk with our local and state officials. Who better to speak to them about the impact of the legislation on schools than us? I believe that our legislators want a good education system for our students; I just don’t think they always understand the full impact that the laws they make have on our schools.
At CSBA we’ve talked a lot about the need for planned, stable and predictable funding—something that fell by the wayside during the Great Recession. Well, that was then and this is now, and we need to drive that dialogue even more, leading a new charge in our communities and with our legislators with fresh energy, commitment and passion. We need to train ourselves on how best to influence local and state leaders—and then resolve to just do it. And if we do that, we can change the direction of things, in our communities and in the Legislature. And everyone will benefit—our children, our communities and our state.
Laurie Weidner, APR, M.A. (lweidner@csba.org) is the executive editor of California Schools.