President-Elect Joe Biden this morning outlined his plans to take a different stand on public education than was taken by current U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who has favored private and charter schools over public schools. Biden introduced to the public his nominee for Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, a former public school classroom teacher and the current Connecticut education commissioner.
Vice-President Elect Kamala Harris also was on hand for the event at The Queen Theater in Wilmington, Delaware.
Cardona’s nomination is subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate. Biden would task him with fulfilling a plan to ensure that every student in the nation can get a high-quality education from pre-K to post-high school, regardless of their ZIP code, parents”™ income, race, sexual orientation and gender identity, or disability. Cardona also will be charged with helping ensure that schools throughout the U.S. reopen safely in the wake of the Covid pandemic.
Cardona, who is the first Latino to serve as education commissioner of Connecticut, is a former fourth-grade public school teacher who went on to become the youngest principal in the state.
Biden said, “In Miguel Cardona, America will have an experienced and dedicated public school teacher leading the way at the Department of Education. As a lifelong champion of public education, he understands that our children are the kite strings that keep our national ambitions aloft ”“ and that everything that will be possible for our country tomorrow will be thanks to the investments we make and the care that our educators and our schools deliver today.”
Cardona said, “For so many of our schools and far too many of our students, this unprecedented year has piled on crisis after crisis. It has taken some of our most painful, longstanding disparities and wrenched them open even wider.
“It has taxed our teachers, our leaders, our school professionals and staff who already pour so much of themselves into their work. It has taxed families struggling to adapt to new routines as they balance the stress, pain, and loss this year has inflicted. It has taxed young adults trying to chase their dreams to advance their education beyond high school, and carve out their place in the economy of tomorrow.
“And it has stolen time from our children who have lost something sacred and irreplaceable this year despite the heroic efforts of so many of our nation”™s educators.”
The Business Journal’s Kevin Zimmerman reported that Connecticut’s Gov. Ned Lamont called Cardona, who he appointed to lead the state”™s Department of Education in July 2019, “a guiding hand and a steady leader for Connecticut” who “has the experience necessary to lead our country”™s children through this next vitally important phase.
“Throughout the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic,” Lamont continued, “Miguel was always student-focused, identifying policies and methods to keep children engaged and learning together in their classrooms to the greatest extent as possible, all while keeping them, their families and their teachers safe.
“Under his guidance,” he added, “Connecticut earlier this month became the first state in the nation to ensure that every PK-12 student in our public school has access to a computer, which was a critical step in closing the digital divide as many schools moved toward remote learning.”
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said, “Joe Biden hit a home run.”
The Connecticut Democrat called Cardona “a great teacher, a fighter for educational equity, and a consensus builder. These values will be essential to solving the myriad of challenges facing him when he gets to Washington, including helping our schools operate safely as we navigate out of the pandemic, addressing the inequities that have been exacerbated during the pandemic, and undoing Betsy DeVos”™ disastrous attacks on public education.”
The search for a new state commissioner will begin immediately under a process that is conducted by the Connecticut State Board of Education and ultimately approved by the governor.
