Incumbent Mary Jane Burke will face a West Marin challenger for her seat as county superintendent of schools this June. Matt Nagle, the principal for West Marin and Inverness Schools, filed his paperwork and spent part of his evenings this week collecting signatures for his nomination. He needs 20 by March 9.
The Fairfax family man has served as principal of the two West Marin schools for the past six years, previously working for over a decade in Palo Alto and Campbell Union School Districts. He’s running on a platform to bring the focus to underachieving Mexican-American students in Marin who he described as being in a state of crisis. If you start by supporting the lowest-achieving population, the benefits will reach all students, he argues.
“They told me I was crazy and I would offend non-Mexican families,” he said of local school administrators. “I think we’re in one of the most intelligent counties in the nation and people can understand that when you give attention to those that are underachieving, it tends to bring everyone else up.”
Mr. Nagle’s campaign manager is his 18-year-old daughter Anais, a senior at Sir Francis Drake High School. He’s forgoing other campaign conventions, too—“I don’t trust politicians who tweet,” he quipped—and won’t be hosting any kickoff parties with $50 tickets, which he said his opponent did last month.
“Why does someone who earns $300,000 a year need to raise more money?” he asked. “There’s some explaining to do.”
Nor does Mr. Nagle plan to have a website or seek endorsements. “I’m running on my ability to lead Marin education, and I’m doing it right now in West Marin,” he said.
At West Marin School, Mr. Nagle has sought to close the achievement gap by guiding the Early School Success program, which uses grant funding from the Marin Community Foundation to support low-income children and children of color through access to preschool through third-grade education, parent involvement and after-school learning. (Ms. Burke championed that program.)
He said enrollment at Papermill Creek Children’s Corner has doubled under the program, which also allows him and his staff to attend trainings, such as one he attended this week that focused on the needs of African American, Latino, and low-income students.
Mr. Nagle implemented a “walk to read” program at West Marin and Inverness Schools in which the neediest students read in small groups every morning.
Outside of school, he’s a member of the Coast Guard housing working group.
For her part, Ms. Burke, who is serving her sixth term as the county’s superintendent of schools, questioned the notion of focusing on just one group of students as a campaign platform. “The role of the county superintendent of schools is to touch all aspects of education in Marin, from finance to emergency preparedness to students with special needs, to name a few,” she said.
Mr. Nagle said he is aware that he’s up against the political establishment. “I’ve been warned by principals and superintendents in the county that I’m in danger of ruining my professional reputation,” he said. But, he added, “I’m the outside candidate and I don’t think there’s a Marin resident who would not agree that it is good for democracy to run. Last time I saw one candidate re-elected over and over again was on a trip in Cuba in 1995. And his name was Castro.”