In nominating Miguel Cardona as U.S. Secretary of Education, President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris have held true to their promise of appointing a public school educator with classroom experience who believes in public education and respects educators.
Cardona is a Connecticut public school educator who understands the federal role in increasing educational opportunities for all students, seeks teacher voices in collaborative efforts to help improve schools, and recognizes that highly qualified teachers are the greatest asset in public education.
A proud product of Connecticut public schools, Cardona will bring his experiences and expertise to Washington, where he will work to address inequities in education to ensure a robust, racially and socially just system of public education that will seek equity and excellence for all students. As an English learner in a public school classroom himself, he grasps the struggles of English learners and has a strong commitment to educational equity.
In meetings with CEA leaders he has shared his commitment to many of our priorities, including ensuring equitable funding for all students and increasing the number of minority teachers to be more representative of the students in the classroom.
Throughout the pandemic he has worked closely with education stakeholders to address important issues facing our students, teachers, families, and communities and has ensured all students have access to technology for remote learning. He believes teachers need to have a seat at the table in order to develop well-informed education policy. He has always sought out diverse educator voices as experts and welcomed their experience and knowledge on many issues that impact educators and their students.
Cardona brought diverse groups together and welcomed the continuing conversation and sharing of perspectives with education groups including CEA, AFT Connecticut and CAPSS, as we worked to address the challenges facing public education in Connecticut.
We look forward to Cardona’s willingness to work with us, NEA, and others to address the needs of our nation’s school children and public education system.
The year ahead offers both potential and challenges, and we wish Cardona much success as he begins this new journey to lead the U.S. Department of Education.
