When he went to school in the United States and spoke only Spanish,
Miguel Cardona had to adapt to a system not designed for him, and he has devoted his life to helping other students in similar circumstances, a mission he intends to continue as education minister.
(You may be interested in: The United States certifies Colombia in the fight against drugs
Cardona, 45, was confirmed by the Senate this Monday as the United States’ head of education, a position from which he will have to lead the US president’s pledge. Joe Biden, to reopen most of the schools in the country that teach children under 14 in May, now closed due to the pandemic.
“There is no way to replace the experience of a classroom, of our students learning for their teacher,” said the new education minister at his Senate hearing in early February.
(In addition: Emma Coronel: the ‘reality show’ life of ‘Chapo’s wife’
Born in Connecticut of Puerto Rican parents, Cardona He is the second person with Puerto Rican roots and the third Latino to be promoted to the United States Secretary of Education, after John B. King, Jr. (2016-2017) and Lauro Cavazos (1988-1990).
Cardona’s parents, Héctor and Sara, taught her early on the importance of hard work, community service, and education
When Biden announced his nomination in December, Cardona recalled his childhood living in government-subsidized homes in the town of Meriden, Connecticut, where his grandparents Avelino and Germana had moved from Aguada, Puerto Rico in search of new opportunities.
Cardona’s parents, Héctor and Sara, “They taught the importance of hard work, community service and education early on.”he said in his speech in December.
(Read here: America is back, but to what extent?
Although he came to Meriden Public School without speaking a word of English,
Cardona eventually became the first in his family to graduate from college, and later a “teacher, principal and deputy superintendent” in the same town where his two daughters are studying today.
“Being bilingual and bicultural, I’m as American as apple pie and rice with beans. And to me, education was what put me on the same level as the others,” Cardona said in the same speech.
Virtual education among minors is a support, but they expect a gradual return to the classroom.
Throughout his fast-paced career, which made him a principal at age 27 and a commissioner of education in Connecticut at age 43, Cardona has mainly focused on the academic performance gap among Latino and black college students versus those who are white or of Asian descent.
“For too many students, their zip code and skin color are still the best predictors of the odds they will have throughout their lives,” he complained in the aforementioned address.
According to Cardona, The United States has “invested too much money in interventions and patches to tackle inequalities”, when what it should do is “create a broad and strong foundation of quality, universal early childhood education” and strengthen the “emotional and social support” of students.
Those who know him well assure that he does not think like a politician or an ideologue, and so they believe he is able to encourage ‘changes towards more equality’ for minority students ‘without alienating those who’ need of ‘still do not understand. that would happen, one of his former colleagues, Robert Villanova, told Education Week magazine.
His big challenge: to reopen the schools
His big challenge once he takes office will be to implement one of Biden’s big goals in his first 100 days in power, reopen most schools for children under 14, and his February confirmation hearing already pledged to do so. “everything is possible” to achieve that goal “safely”.
That goal met with resistance from teacher unions, but
Cardona already has experience with the subject: as Connecticut Commissioner of Education, faced the same dilemma last year, when COVID-19 hit the United States and the entire country switched to distance learning overnight.
Cardona then realized that this system was failing many students, especially the poorest, as some 140,000 students in their country did not connect to online classes“Inequalities have really surfaced.
The impact of this will last for generations, ”Cardona warned in an interview with local newspaper CT Mirror last year.
Cardona then launched a successful campaign for schools to offer face-to-face classes again, and helped all but one of Connecticut’s counties adopt some form of personal education last fall, though some were later closed again, according to the Washington Post
That persistence will be key to carrying out Biden’s mission in a country where many teachers fear going back to class, but the White House trusts Cardona’s educator soul.
INTERNATIONAL SETUP
* With information from agencies
It may interest you
– The US would allow families separated at the border to stay in the country
– The violation revealed by US support for the military in Guatemala
– This will be the route of the most dangerous journey the Pope has made: Iraq