Pedro Martinez: A look at his background in 5 critical areas

by Katie McCabe on Jun 25 2012 Posted in Latest news

Attending tonight’s public engagement forum to hear from superintendent candidate Pedro Martinez?

Here are links to previous reporting done on five important areas.

1. Education & experience

• Current deputy superintendent of Clark County School District

• Former deputy superintendent of Washoe County School District

• Former chief financial officer of Chicago Public Schools under Arne Duncan

• 2009 graduate of the Broad Superintendents Academy

• No previous teaching experience

2. Budgeting background

• In Clark County, there is currently a $63 million shortfall and 1,000 teaching positions have been eliminated.

• The state superintendent is seeking federal permission for Clark County to repurpose federal aid to help close the district’s budget gap.

• Faced significant budget deficits and insufficient state aid in Chicago.

• Piloted per pupil budgeting in Chicago, similar to the weighted student funding formula discussed in Philadelphia.

3. Work with district reorganizations

• Oversaw management reorganizations in both the Clark County Washoe County school districts, according to his resume.

• Clark County School Board approved a $1.8 million grant last year from the Lincy Foundation to pay for an outside analysis of the reorganization of the district.

4. Work to improve school performance

• Helped oversee the ongoing implementation of the Common Core Standards in Clark County.

• Implemented an ongoing dropout prevention program called “Reclaim Your Future” in Clark County.

• Led federally-funded turnaround efforts at five failing schools in Clark County. These were met with student protests.

5. Clark County School District’s relationship with its teachers’ union

• The Clark County Education Association recently won pay increases for Clark County teachers, but at the cost of more than 400 layoffs.

• After the layoffs, Clark County hired 50 Teach for America teachers.

Also check out our blogger Timothy Boyle’s crowd-sourced list of questions, and Martinez’s official resume.