CT Education Commissioner Cardona reportedly eyed for Biden cabinet

Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona is reportedly on a shortlist of candidates to become President-elect Joe Biden”™s education secretary.

According to a Washington Post article citing anonymous “people familiar with the process,” Biden is specifically seeking a person of color with a public school teaching background for this cabinet position.

Cardona, a Meriden native whose parents are from Puerto Rico, is a former fourth-grade teacher who became a principal at the age of 28 ”“ the youngest principal in Connecticut ”“ and was named Principal of the Year in 2012.

Gov. Ned Lamont chose him to become education commissioner in 2019, making him the first Hispanic to hold that position.

The Washington Post article claimed Cardona and Leslie T. Fenwick, dean emeritus of the Howard University School of Education, were the two frontrunners for the education secretary position. Rep. Jahana Hayes, a former teacher who was recently re-elected to a second term in Connecticut”™s 5th Congressional District, was also cited in the article as being among other candidates being considered for the job.

Cardona did not publicly comment on the news report.