A very centrist pick. Wonder if he may turn out radical, given the extraordinary moment he is inheriting...
> > https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/biden-education-secretary-cardona/2020/12/22/69e8b1f0-4484-11eb-b0e4-0f182923a025_story.html > > <https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/biden-education-secretary-cardona/2020/12/22/69e8b1f0-4484-11eb-b0e4-0f182923a025_story.html> > > Biden picks Miguel Cardona, Connecticut schools chief, as education secretary > > Matt Viser > > Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona, President-elect Joe > Biden’s pick for education secretary, speaks with students in Berlin, Conn., > on Jan. 20, 2020. (Devin Leith-Yessian/Berlin Citizen/Record-Journal/AP) > President-elect Joe Biden said Tuesday that he will nominate Miguel Cardona, > the commissioner of public schools in Connecticut, as his education > secretary, settling on a low-profile candidate who has pushed to reopen > pandemic-shuttered schools and is not aligned with either side in the > education policy battles of recent years. > > Cardona, 45, did not enjoy the same level of enthusiastic support as some > others who were considered for the post, but he also did not draw any > significant opposition. Rather, he is seen as capable of working with people > across the education spectrum. > > He was named Connecticut’s top schools official last year and, if confirmed > for the national job, will have achieved a meteoric rise, moving from > assistant superintendent in his hometown of Meriden, Conn., a district with > 9,000 students, to secretary of education in less than two years. > > He was born in Meriden to Puerto Rican parents who lived in public housing > and has a personal story the Biden team found compelling. He was the first in > his family to attend college and was raised in a Spanish-speaking home. He > began his career as a fourth-grade teacher and rocketed up the ranks, > becoming the state’s youngest principal at age 28. He was named the state’s > principal of the year in 2012. > > His two elementary-school-age daughters are public school students in > Meriden, a midsize city near Hartford. > > Cardona’s experience in public education offers a sharp contrast to President > Trump’s education secretary, Betsy DeVos, who attended private schools and > spent much of her energy advocating for alternatives to public education. And > though Cardona has lived in poverty, DeVos is a billionaire who has been > wealthy all her life. > > In a statement, Biden praised Cardona’s background as a public school teacher > and leader and said he will help ensure that students are equipped to thrive, > teachers have what they need and schools are on track to reopen safely. “In > Miguel Cardona, America will have an experienced and dedicated public school > teacher leading the way at the Department of Education,” Biden said. > > The announcement was welcomed by congressional Democrats. There was scant > response from Republicans, but a Senate GOP aide predicted that Cardona would > be confirmed. > > Who Biden is picking to fill his White House and Cabinet > <https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/biden-cabinet/?itid=lk_interstitial_manual_11ed&itid=lk_interstitial_manual_14> > In Connecticut, Cardona has worked to reopen schools closed by the pandemic, > an important factor in his favor, one person familiar with the decision said. > In Connecticut, just over 70 percent of school districts offered in-person > options this week, a state official said. > > The new education secretary’s first task will be to help guide schools > through the final phase of the pandemic. Biden has called on districts to > resume in-person teaching within his first 100 days in office. > > After schools closed, Cardona also worked to procure electronic devices for > students who needed them for remote learning. Biden also prized that work, as > well as Cardona’s focus on how the pandemic is widening the equity gaps in > education, said a person familiar with the decision who, like others, spoke > on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment > publicly. > > Cardona has repeatedly stated the need for in-person schooling in equity > terms. Providing in-person learning will help “level the educational playing > field and reduce gaps in opportunities for our students,” Cardona wrote in an > open letter to teachers > <https://www.newstimes.com/opinion/article/Ed-Commissioner-Cardona-We-are-grateful-for-15811357.php>last > week. “If we can do it safely, this is what we owe to them.” > > In the letter, he also thanked teachers for their “extraordinary and > heightened sense of service.” > > While teachers unions across the country have resisted a return to buildings, > union officials in Connecticut said Cardona was always willing to listen to > their point of view and worked to reopen school buildings safely. > > “Even if we disagreed, everyone had a chance to express their feelings and > beliefs,” said Jan Hochadel, president of the American Federation of Teachers > Connecticut. > > She said she had a positive experience working with Cardona earlier in his > career on a panel examining teacher evaluations, where she said he promoted > evaluations as a way to coach teachers toward improvement, rather than as a > form of punishment. > > He was described in similar terms by Amy Dowell, the Connecticut state > director of Democrats for Education Reform, a group that often clashes with > teachers unions. “He has been a real partner,” she said. “Even when he > doesn’t agree, he’s been a good listener and takes in a lot of perspectives > in his decision-making.” > > During Cardona’s tenure, Connecticut became the first state to require high > schools to offer courses in Black and Latino studies. Earlier, he was > co-chairman of a state task force studying achievement gaps. His doctoral > dissertation <https://opencommons.uconn.edu/dissertations/AAI3468062/> was > titled “Sharpening the Focus of Political Will to Address Achievement > Disparities.” > > As a candidate, Biden promised to choose a public school educator as > secretary, and his search focused on people with K-12 experience. He also > sought out a person of color for the post, considering several other Latino > and Black school leaders as he worked to diversify his Cabinet. > > And while the president-elect has been criticized for choosing a number of > Obama administration veterans for top jobs, Cardona is an entirely fresh > face, albeit one that a transition official acknowledged was “a little green > for the job.” > > Biden frequently invokes his wife, Jill, who is a community college > professor, as he explains why education is important to him and his agenda. > She was more involved in the education secretary nomination that she has been > in others, and she participated in an interview with Cardona. > > The trickiest part of the selection process was navigating competing > education wings inside the Democratic Party. Biden and his team considered > more than a dozen candidates, and all were aligned with one side or the > other in the divisive debate over improving American schools, two people > familiar with the process said. > > Democrats who support accountability-driven reforms, such as student > testing, teacher evaluations and charter schools, touted several big-city > superintendents for the secretary job. Teachers unions rallied behind two > union leaders who were under consideration, particularly Lily Eskelsen > García, who recently stepped down as president of the National Education > Association, although Randi Weingarten, the president of the American > Federation of Teachers, was more seriously considered. > > But in the end, Biden did not want to choose a candidate from either camp, > and Cardona won praise Tuesday from a wide range of education groups, some of > which were relieved that even if their favorite candidate was not selected, > at least the nominee was not firmly in the opposing camp. > > Two outsiders emerge as top contenders for Biden’s education secretary > <https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/biden-education-secretary-fenwick-cardona/2020/12/16/5811142e-3fb4-11eb-8bc0-ae155bee4aff_story.html?itid=lk_interstitial_manual_41> > The decision came down to two people after the process was well underway, > both suggested by Linda Darling-Hammond, who headed the education transition > team. In addition to Cardona, she suggested Leslie Fenwick, a former dean of > the Howard University School of Education, three people familiar with the > process said. > > Fenwick is a fierce critic of centrist education reforms that gained traction > under President Barack Obama and has said as much in blunt and controversial > ways. She argued that reform ideas are “schemes” driven by racism and that > urban reforms are really about land development > <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2013/05/28/ed-school-dean-urban-school-reform-is-really-about-land-development-not-kids/?itid=lk_inline_manual_44>. > Those views helped kill her candidacy, with Biden’s team fearing she would > be too controversial. > > Meanwhile, Democrats on the other side of the debate mobilized behind > Cardona. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus also endorsed him last week. > > Cardona was a safer selection, having toiled more as an educator than a > policymaker at the height of the education wars. > > Cardona has described himself as “a goofy little Puerto Rican” born in the > Yale Acres public housing complex, according to the Hartford Business > Journal. > <https://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/cts-miguel-cardona-in-the-mix-for-bidens-education-secretary>The > paper reported that Cardona was blunt when asked about how the state > educates students learning English. “Not good enough. Not good enough,” he > said. “We have to focus on that more.” > > “Education is the great equalizer: It was for me,” Cardona told legislators > considering his nomination for the top state education post. “Our success as > a state will be dependent upon how we support students who are learning > English as a second language.” > > With DeVos out, Biden plans series of reversals on education > <https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/biden-education-change/2020/11/08/b5b25c7a-21d5-11eb-a688-5298ad5d580a_story.html?itid=lk_interstitial_manual_50> > As a candidate, Biden promised to address the shortfalls of U.S. education > primarily through increased funding, a sharp departure from Trump, who > repeatedly proposed deep cuts to the federal education budget and billions of > dollars in tax credits to subsidize tuition at private schools. > > Biden proposed tripling the $15 billion Title I funds that support > high-poverty schools and said he would double the number of psychologists, > counselors, nurses and social workers in schools, provide new money for > school infrastructure and dramatically increase federal spending for special > education. > > Next year, his Education Department will have to decide whether to waive a > requirement that states test students in the spring. DeVos waived it last > year because of the pandemic. Cardona has said he favors the > <https://www.edsurge.com/news/2020-12-22-what-to-know-about-miguel-cardona-biden-s-pick-for-education-secretary>assessments > to see where students are academically after a year of disrupted education. > > He brings little experience on higher education, though that area represents > a large share of the Education Department’s work. Some of Biden’s biggest > education promises involve college, including proposals to forgive college > debt and make community college free. > > Cardona also won praise from Ted Mitchell, the president of the American > Council on Education, which represents college and university leaders. He > said Cardona has been supportive of state funding for higher education, > seeing college as the natural extension of a K-12 education. > > “I’ve been a fan, a big fan,” Mitchell said. “He has been very articulate in > talking about access and opportunity for low-income students, and whether > that’s K-12 or higher education, and that’s exactly the right place to start.” -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/RadicalCentrism/B8085BB2-915D-45F9-A0FB-D0642344E1AC%40radicalcentrism.org.
