President-elect Joe Biden elected Miguel Cardona, Connecticut’s commissioner for education and a former public school teacher, to serve as secretary of education.
Cardona was named a top educator in Connecticut just months before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in March. When schools moved to distance learning, he rushed to deliver more than 100,000 laptops to students across the country. Since then, however, he has increasingly pressured schools to reopen, saying it is harmful to keep students at home.
If confirmed, its first task will be to extend this effort across the country. Biden has pledged to open most American schools by the end of his first 100 days in office. Biden promises new federal guidelines for school opening decisions and a large-scale effort by the Department of Education to identify and share the best teaching methods during a pandemic.
The election of Cardona by Biden, still to be announced, was confirmed by three people familiar with his decision, but not authorized to discuss it publicly.
Cardona, 45, grew up in a housing project in Meriden, Connecticut, and went through the city’s public schools before returning to work as a fourth-grade teacher in the district in 1998. At the age of 28, he became the youngest director in the state before heading to the assistant district inspector.
As an educator, he has dedicated his work to improving education for English language learners and to reducing achievement gaps between black students and their white classmates. Both problems have been perpetual struggles in Connecticut, which for decades has been among the biggest gaps in the country.
Cardona’s doctoral dissertation at the University of Connecticut examined how to stimulate “political will” to bridge the gap between English learners and their peers. It is a personal problem for Cardona, who said he entered kindergarten speaking only Spanish and struggled to learn English.
He was elected to lead a 2011 state working group that studied how to close learning gaps in Connecticut and issued dozens of recommendations. In an update on the February work, Cardona said the state’s gaps were closing, but not fast enough. At the current rate of progress, he said, it will take until 2060 to erase disparities.
The pandemic has only heightened concerns about inequity in education. In a September video message to special education teachers, he said the pandemic had “further exacerbated gaps in achievement.” You are the lieutenants in that struggle to close these gaps. “
These concerns led his work with Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont to provide computers and wireless Internet devices to students across the state. In December, Connecticut said it became the first state to distribute laptops to every student who needed one.
But that’s not enough, Cardona said. Recently, he drew attention to new state data showing that students who study online missed twice as many school days as those who attend school in person. The data also showed that students with high needs, including those learning English, are much more likely to be considered chronically absent this school year.
During the summer, when schools were preparing reopening plans, Cardona urged all schools to provide personal instruction to all students. Recent data from the state show that few students learned entirely in October and November. But even as cases of the virus rose in the fall, Cardona pushed several schools to reopen, saying there was no evidence of transmission to schools.
“Our position has always been when you can bring students to class, this is the best option,” Cardona told state lawmakers in October. “There is no substitute for this classroom experience with a teacher.”
His position sometimes contradicted him with teachers’ unions, who called for school buildings to be closed until safety measures were met, and also with some parents who say schools should be ordered to open. Cardona sought to balance his interests by pushing for reopening, without forcing his mandate.
Despite their occasional conflict with him, a coalition of Connecticut education unions has previously backed his candidacy as Biden’s education secretary. In a December 18 statement, the coalition said Cardona had been tested for the pandemic and “would be a positive force for public education.”
“Although this challenge was a rocky road – and many problems remain unresolved – the school’s teachers and support staff appreciated its openness and collaboration,” the group wrote.
Cardona was also backed by the Hispanic Caucus Congress, which pressured Biden to appoint more Latinos to the cabinet. In a letter to Biden this month, the group cited Cardona’s achievements and said he “fully understands the challenges facing English as a Second Language (ESL) students, Latinos and other minority students in American classrooms.” .
Beyond the pandemic, Biden’s secretary of education will also be tasked with reversing a series of policies set by secretary Betsy DeVos. Throughout his campaign, Biden described DeVos as an enemy of public schools and promised to install a head of education with experience working in public schools.
He has vowed to revoke the Trump administration’s policies, including DeVos’ recent rules on managing sexual assault on campus.
Biden’s education plans also include measures that align with Cardona’s interests. The Democrat has pledged to triple Title I federal funding for the most needy schools to ensure that “no child’s future is determined by the zip code, parental income, race or disability.” Biden also proposes free preschools and policies designed to make national schools and teaching staff more diverse.
In December, Connecticut said it had become the first state to require high schools to offer black and Latin courses. Cardona praised the move, saying “identities matter”.
“The fact is that more inclusive and culturally relevant content in classrooms leads to greater student engagement and better outcomes for all,” he said in a statement.
Cardona and his wife, Marissa Pérez Cardona, have two children.