Dec. 22 (UPI) — President-elect Joe Biden has decided on Connecticut Commissioner of Education Miguel Cardona to become his secretary of education, multiple reports said Tuesday.
If confirmed to the Cabinet post, Cardona, Connecticut’s first Latino schools leader, would take on a difficult job of returning the nation’s education systems from the substantial interruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cardona’s selection as Biden’s education chief was reported by The New York Times, CNN and Politico.
Cardona, 45, would be another high-profile member of the Latin community to join Biden’s Cabinet. The president-elect has already nominated Xavier Becerra as Health and Human Services secretary and Alejandro Mayorkas to head the Homeland Security Department.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has urged Biden to select Cardona for the post.
According to his official biography, Cardona was appointed Connecticut education commissioner by Gov. Ned Lamont last year after two decades as a public educator. He began as an elementary school teacher and served as a principal for 10 years before becoming an administrator.
Cardona was also co-chairperson of a statewide task force to address achievement gaps and taught for four years as an adjunct professor at the University of Connecticut.
Biden has promised nominate a schoolteacher to be education secretary, a sharp contrast to President Donald Trump’s choice of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, a billionaire private school advocate.
After Cardona, Biden will still have five main Cabinet-level positions yet to name, including attorney general, CIA director and secretaries of labor and commerce.
