Hi David, I don’t think the person with that Twitter account is on this list anymore.
I still sporadically tweet as @Stoosian, but I rarely engage. There is still value in sharing ideas on Twitter, but the effort and cost is high, so I prefer to find other venues for engaging with people. Thanks for asking! Yours truly, Ernest Prabhakar Centroids Sent from my iPhone > On Jan 13, 2021, at 20:18, David Morley <[email protected]> wrote: > > Why is @Centrism4A not on Twitter anymore? > >> On Tuesday, January 12, 2021 at 2:56:26 PM UTC-5 Chris Hahn wrote: >> Hoping for the best. >> >> >> >> From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of >> Ernest Prabhakar >> Sent: Tuesday, January 12, 2021 9:58 AM >> To: Centroids Discussions <[email protected]> >> Subject: [RC] Biden picks Miguel Cardona for education secretary - The >> Washington Post >> >> >> >> 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 >> >> 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 >> >> 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 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 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 >> >> 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. 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. 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 >> >> 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 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. >> > > -- > -- > 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/7efaf954-f306-4337-aa96-28e820c499b6n%40googlegroups.com. -- -- 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. 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