Biden Taps Miguel Cardona to Head Education Department

BY Tara Dublin December 22, 2020

Joe Biden continues to deliver on his campaign promise to build the most diverse Cabinet of any American President, determined to finally have leadership that looks like the country it represents. Biden has repeatedly made history by choosing a Black woman of Asian heritage as his Vice President, creating an all-female Comms team, and nominating the first Native American and member of the LGBTQ community to the Cabinet. Now he’s made good on that promise once again, nominating a Latino to head the Department of Education.

Biden was considering many qualified candidates for the important role of undoing all of the damage inflicted upon the American education system by current Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos. Senator Elizabeth Warren was an early contender for the role, but her presence in the Senate is more vital than ever as Democrats face dual runoff elections in Georgia on January 5th to gain the majority. Therefore Biden smartly looked elsewhere, and ultimately chose Connecticut Schools Chief Miguel Cardona to run the Education Department.

FILE – In this Jan. 28, 2020 file photo, Connecticut State Commissioner of Education Miguel Cardona speaks with Berlin High School students while on a tour of the school. President-elect Joe Biden has chosen the education commissioner for Connecticut and a former public school teacher to serve as education secretary. (Devin Leith-Yessian/Berlin Citizen/Record-Journal via AP)

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus put its support behind Cardona, who lived in public housing when his parents moved from Puerto Rico to Connecticut, in a letter to Biden last week, in which they called him “an outstanding leader” who would bring a “valued and diverse voice” to the role.

Miguel Cardona would be the second education secretary of Puerto Rican heritage to lead the Education Department; former secretary John B. King Jr. was the first. https://t.co/Na49Sgm2Oj

— Andrew Ujifusa (@AndrewUjifusa) December 22, 2020

Cardona has most recently been focused on reopening Connecticut’s schools during the COVID19 pandemic. About one-third of the state’s public school students currently are able to attend school in-person full-time, and like many state and district leaders across the country, Cardona has been balancing demands from teachers unions and parents amid budget constraints and concerns about the spread of the virus. Biden has said getting the “majority” of schools open in the first 100 days of his administration will be one of Cardona’s main focuses.