Sam Gurwitt Photo
Miguel Cardona, President Biden’s newly confirmed education secretary, shown at an Oct. 21 Hamden school mock presidential election
It’s official: New Haven’s schools have a friendly ear in the Biden administration.
That friendly ear belongs to Miguel Cardona. The U.S. Senate confirmed Cardona’s appointment as the new secretary of education.
As Connecticut’s education commissioner, Cardona helped New Haven schools close the digital divide during the pandemic, while retreating from forcing the schools themselves to reopen. Click here to read a previous story about the praise he earned from New Haven education officials for his commitment to equity.
Cardona grew up in Meriden. His parents were originally from Puerto Rico. Miguel enrolled in Meriden public schools without knowing English. He started his career as an elementary public school teacher and moved into principal, assistant superintendent and university professor positions before becoming the state education commissioner.
Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz released a statement late Monday celebrating the confirmation vote.
“Miguel Cardona’s career and life exemplify the power of public education,” Bysiewicz stated.
“Throughout his career as a public school educator and later as Connecticut’s Education Commissioner, Miguel has been a champion for inclusivity and equity. He’s worked tirelessly to lift up all students by working to close the opportunity gap, recruit more minority teachers, and encourage more young girls to pursue an education in STEM. And, he’s worked to broaden access to advanced-level courses and has ensured that all students have the resources needed to pursue a higher education. During an unprecedented public health emergency, Miguel created a blueprint for how to reopen our schools safely while protecting the health of educators, administrators, staff and students.”
Miguel Cardona is a strong leader. He really stepped up this summer and laid out all the facts to the New Haven BOE as to why our schools should open. The BOE disregarded his message and voted to not open our schools. The journalist of this article is not reporting correctly and should look at the facts. Miguel wanted our schools open and had debated for them to open. He did an amazing job providing real data and facts, but The decision to open or close schools was not up to him. It was up to each towns BOE. Bridgeport, Hartford, Stamford and Waterbury all opened because their BOE new how equitable it was to provide in person education to students in those cities. The journalist here is misleading readers by stating Miguel retreated.