Biden Picks Latino Chief of Connecticut Colleges as Schooling Secretary

In his announcement, Mr. Biden outlined the monumental tasks before Dr. Cardona, including helping the nation “eliminate systemic inequalities, address the mental health crisis in our education system, increase education well-deserved, relieve educational debt, and ensure a high quality, universal” for every three and four year old in the country Pre-K. “

Dr. Cardona will also have to grapple with factionism within his own party on core issues of education such as charter schools, teachers unions and standardized tests to reconcile his own inclinations with Mr Biden’s promises.

For example, Mr Biden asked questions about the role of the Charter during his presidential campaign. Dr. Cardona was measured more. Ms. Toll said she found that he was “neither for the charter nor against the charter” and was more concerned about the quality of each school.

Ms. DeVos ‘role as a political boogeyman allowed Democrats to document the deep disagreement over standardized tests, public funding of charter schools, and parents’ ability to choose the schools their children attend. Union leaders and left-wing charter organizations alike viewed Ms. DeVos as a real threat to public education.

Dr. Cardona would have to grapple with some of these issues soon after confirmation, including whether states should be allowed to abandon standardized testing during the pandemic.

The transition of the president

Updated

Apr. 22, 2020, 9:33 am ET

His expected nomination will be for a honeymoon period for the time being. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, a national trade union, announced Dr. Cardona’s “deep respect for educators and their unions”. Jeanne Allen, who heads the Center for Education Reform and is a frequent trade union critic, called the selection “good news”.

Dr. Cardona, 45, was named Connecticut’s first Latino Education Officer in 2019 after two decades of public school education, starting in an elementary school classroom in Meriden, Connecticut. He was also a director for a decade, one of the youngest in the state, and assistant superintendent at Meriden. He was also an associate professor at the University of Connecticut, where he received his PhD.