President Biden’s nominee for Education secretary appeared before the Senate’s education committee today. Miguel Cardona was asked about his stance on issues such as federal support for student civil rights and charter schools. The most pressing questions were centered on the pandemic: Under what circumstances should schools reopen? How much federal aid is needed? How should standardized testing be managed after months of lost learning?
Cardona’s answers are critical to families whose schools have been shuttered for nearly a year. But it’s Cardona’s leadership skills that senators should be most focused on. How strongly will Cardona advocate for America’s children, particularly when adult interests such as teacher unions push in the opposite direction? The secretary of Education doesn’t have authority to open or close schools; that falls to states and localities. But he does have a bully pulpit, and he should use it forcefully to support state and local officials struggling to reengage kids in learning.
Previous Education secretaries under Democratic presidents have forcefully used their voices to support education reforms. Richard Riley’s “America Reads Challenge” during the Clinton administration and Arne Duncan’s “Race to the Top” competition during the Obama administration come to mind. The challenges of this moment are even more daunting.
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