CT Education Commissioner Picked For Biden Administration: Report

CONNECTICUT — President-elect Joe Biden is expected to nominate Connecticut's Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona as his education secretary, according to a CNN report Monday night.

CNN cited sources in making the announcement and added that a formal announcement could come as soon as Wednesday.

CNN said that Biden wants to reopen schools across the country within his first 100 days in office and that Cardona appeals to him because he has been very vocal about keeping schools open in Connecticut during the pandemic.

>>>Read the CNN story here.

Original story by Patch last week:

CONNECTICUT — State Department of Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona has surfaced as one of the top candidates for national education secretary under President-elect Joe Biden’s administration.

The Washington Post first reported on the news. The paper also reported that Howard University School of Education Dean Emeritus Leslie Fenwick is also under consideration.

Cardona came to the attention of Biden through Linda Darling-Hammond, a member of Biden’s transition team, according to the CT Mirror.

Gov. Ned Lamont said he wasn't called during the vetting process and that he didn't want to lose Cardona, but that he would be a good fit for the Biden administration.

"I think Miguel is extraordinary I think he’s got just the right background," Lamont said during a news conference. "He’s been a hero for the state of Connecticut, a hero for the students not to mention the teachers and that’s the message I left the Biden campaign.”

Cardona was appointed commissioner by Gov. Ned Lamont in August 2019. He started his career in education as an elementary school teacher in Meriden and worked his way up to assistant superintendent for teaching and learning in the district. He has been an advocate for bolstering English learning programs in Connecticut schools and closing achievement gaps for disadvantaged students.

Cardona has been an advocate of as much in-person learning as possible since the start of the school year during the coronavirus pandemic. Local school districts submitted plans to the SDE over the summer for reopening. All public school districts except Danbury and New Haven started the year with full in-person or hybrid learning. Since then, coronavirus infections and quarantines among school staff have forced some districts to remote status.

Cardona and some of the state’s largest teachers unions have sometimes clashed through the pandemic. Most recently more than 14,000 teachers and others signed a petition asking either for the state to adopt uniform coronavirus safety protocols in schools or switch to full remote learning. Cardona has said that each school district and building is different, which would make one protocol hard to implement.

Connecticut was the first state in the nation to provide an electronic device to every student in need for remote learning. Funds came from the Partnership for Connecticut over the spring and summer and from federal CARES Act funds. Connecticut invested in 142,000 laptops and Internet access for 44,000 students during the pandemic in an effort to close the digital divide among students.