Joe Biden will appoint Puerto Rican Miguel Cardona as Secretary of Education

Washington DC – The President-elect, Joe BidenIt is proposed to appoint Puerto Rican Miguel Cardona – Connecticut Commissioner of Education – as the next United States Secretary of Education.

Biden’s intention to recommend Cardona as Education Minister has been circulating for a few days. But CNN reported tonight that Biden is ready to make that announcement, as Democratic Senator Chris Murphy (Connecticut) seemed to confirm.

‘My friend Miguel Cardona is everything you could want in a Secretary of Education. A teacher in the classroom, a fighter for educational equality, a consensus builder. That’s why he rose through the ranks quickly, ”tweeted Murphy.

Born in Connecticut to Puerto Rican parents, Cardona has guided his state through the process of reopening schools amid the coronavirus pandemic.

He would be the United States’ second Secretary of Education of Puerto Rican descent. The first was John King, from a Puerto Rican mother who was Secretary of Education during the Barack Obama administration.

Cardona would also be the third Hispanic to be selected for his cabinet by Biden. The other two are Xavier Becerra, who will be proposed as Health Minister, and Alejandro Mayorkas, who has been selected by Biden as Secretary of Homeland Security.

The current Connecticut education commissioner has the support of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Power4PuertoRico coalition, and the Hispanic Federation, among others.

In a letter to Biden sent last week, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus stated that “Cardona’s track record shows that he is qualified to lead the Department of Education” and stressed that “as a Puerto Rican leader he will provide a valuable and diverse voice. to the cabinet “.

“Our nation urgently needs an educational leader who not only has an ear to the ground but has directly dealt with a number of systemic educational injustices that are a legacy of racism,” Erica González, director of Power4PuertoRico, said when referring. to “decades of divestment and under-funding in black and brown communities”, including English language learners (ELL) and students with disabilities.

Cardona grew up in a public housing community in the town of Meridien, Connecticut. When she entered kindergarten, she spoke only Spanish, so she knows firsthand “the challenges and stigma” of the ELL program, González added.

Commissioner Cardona began his career as a teacher in the fourth grade. At the age of 28, he became the youngest principal in the state. In 2012 he was voted director of the year.

A few days ago, the Connecticut government announced that from the 2021-2022 school year, the public education system will begin offering an elective course for high school students on African American, Black, Latino, and Puerto Rican studies.

As a Connecticut Commissioner of Education, he has promoted the return to face-to-face classes during the coronavirus pandemic, recognizing that the spread of the virus in schools is very low and that it surpasses the problems of virtual education.

Cardona has a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Connecticut.