Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism

Biden selects CT’s Miguel Cardona to lead the U.S. Department of Education

Here's his history on reopening classrooms, school choice, and educating English learners

  • Education
  • by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas
  • December 22, 2020
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

Jacqueline Rabe Thomas :: CtMirror.org

Education Commissioner Miguel A. Cardona.

This story was updated at 7:30 p.m.

President-elect Joe Biden has selected Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona for the job of leading the U.S. Department of Education.

If confirmed by the Senate, Cardona would take the reins of the department during a pivotal time in education as the pandemic keeps many school buildings across the country closed and evidence mounts that students are falling behind.

Biden has said one of his top three COVID-19 priorities for his first 100 days in office is to “reopen the majority of schools” — a challenge Cardona took on as Connecticut’s education commissioner with mixed results. An advocate for reopening schools, Cardona has so far resisted calls from parents to order superintendents to hold in-person classes and from teachers’ unions to order schools closed.

Instead, his agency has issued a plethora of guidance to help district leaders open and has used federal pandemic aid to buy masks, plexiglass, laptops and internet access so that every student has the ability to learn from home.

He’s also used the public spotlight to call out the “education emergency” school closures are causing, releasing data that shows the state’s most disadvantaged students are missing twice as much remote school as their peers attending in-person. The administration has also tracked COVID-19 cases in districts throughout the state, which Cardona regularly points to as proof that the virus is not spreading in schools.

Roughly one-third of Connecticut’s public school students currently have the ability to attend school in person full-time.

While all eyes may be on how Cardona and Biden will approach reopening schools, Cardona’s long history as an educator provides some insight into how he will approach the job post-pandemic.

Christopher Zajac / Teach Connecticut

Miguel Cardona with his parents in Meriden.

English learners 

Cardona — who introduced himself to state legislators during his confirmation hearing last year as “a goofy little Puerto Rican” who was born in public housing in Meriden — is the son of a retired police officer with an award-winning mustache, the first in his family to go to college, the father of two public high school students, and the bongo player in the holiday parranda.

Cardona, 45, spent the first five years of his career teaching elementary students in Meriden before becoming principal for the next 10 at another high-needs elementary school in the district.

Cardona, whose grandparents moved here from Puerto Rico in search of a better life, spoke no English when he started school.

His background as an English learner will be especially useful as the nation’s top education official. The U.S. Department of Education reports one out of every 11 public school students in the country is an English learner.

CT Mirror · Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona on English Language Learners

“I had to learn how to code-switch early. At first it was with language, but it soon became necessary for other nuances of the cultures in which I was immersed,” he wrote about himself on a website that aims to recruit other people of color into teaching. “Like many, I remember what it felt like to be on the wrong side of a stereotype, and I felt it was my purpose in education to evolve the thinking of the next generation.”

Vying to become the state’s first Latino education commissioner in a state with some of the largest gaps in the nation in achievement between Latino students and their white classmates, Cardona said Connecticut’s future relies on narrowing these yawning disparities.

“Education is the great equalizer. It was for me,” said Cardona during his 2019 confirmation hearing. “Our success as a state will be dependent upon how we support students who are learning English as a second language.”

If confirmed, he will become the second Puerto Rican to be U.S. Education Secretary. So far, Biden has nominated two other Latinos to his cabinet, Axios reported Monday.

While Cardona considered becoming a bilingual teacher so that he could help students like himself, he decided against it because he felt it was important for non-bilingual students to see Latinos in professional capacities. Much of his career has been spent figuring out how to improve the education English learners receive no matter what classroom they are in.

His doctoral dissertation in 2011 for the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education offers a roadmap into what he thinks needs to happen to improve the education received by English learners.

The dissertation — titled “Sharpening the Focus of Political Will to Address Achievement Disparities” — reveals his frustration with the “patterns of complacency” for English learners who have led to “institutional predeterminations.” He complained of limited opportunities to participate in extracurricular activities and access to reading materials in Spanish.

“Without a focused commitment of political will among educational leaders to make the necessary improvements in academic programs, gaps in student achievement will likely persist,” he wrote of English learners in Connecticut. “From my perspective, it seems that the normalization of failure of the ELL students continues to influence practices.”

Cardona is also a fan of embracing a student’s native language and encouraging districts to set up dual-language programs so they and their classmates can learn their core subjects in Spanish or another language. One of the first schools Cardona took his boss, Gov. Ned Lamont, to visit was a dual language school in Norwalk.

“I think the key thing is making sure we provide support in their native language. We don’t want kids to come in and lose their first language while learning a second language,” Cardona said about research that shows the positive affects dual-language programs offer. “It’s really crucial as a state we recognize the assets our English learners have.”

Erik Trautmann :: Hearst Connecticut Media

Students at Silvermine Dual Language Magnet School in Norwalk listen to state Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona and Gov. Ned Lamont read a book during Read Across America Day.

School choice

Cardona went to Wilcox Technical High School after gaining a spot through a lottery. There he concentrated on automotive studies, though he defied expectations that he would become a mechanic and instead went to college, where at first he felt out of place.

“I recall as an 18-year-old walking through the hallways here at Central [Connecticut State University], a freshman who is the first in his entire family to go to college, being confused, unsure of myself, lacking confidence, and unsure of how to get ahead. I wondered if this college thing was going to work out for me,” he told Central Connecticut State University graduates in 2019.

And while he has gone on to earn four degrees, he doesn’t want students being routed to a specific career or college path.

“One of the things I want to guard against is tracking or saying to an eighth grader, ‘You’re college bound, You’re not that’ — that to me perpetuates inequities,” he said. “We have a lot of students sitting in our high schools today who need hands-on experiences, who want to build things, who want to develop things, who want to manufacture, who want to want to go into IT, go into business. And oftentimes, we have students who don’t take those opportunities, because they’re going to be less likely to be looked at by colleges.”

The vocational high school Cardona attended is part of a network of trade schools operated by the state.

Cardona’s record on his approach to other lottery schools is a bit shallow. That’s because in Meriden, where he served as a top administrator for the bulk of his career, there was never an application for a new magnet or charter school to open during his tenure.

As state commissioner, Cardona played a key role in negotiating an agreement to offer more Hartford students attending segregated schools the opportunity to enroll in diverse magnet schools. On charter schools, the legislature is responsible for providing the funding to open additional charters, and his department with the State Board of Education is responsible for approving their applications outlining their educational approaches and renewing their certificates to operate.

Under his leadership, the education department has renewed every charter that was due and has not approved any additional schools for the legislature to consider opening.

Asked about charter schools during his confirmation hearing, Cardona said he’d rather focus his energy making sure neighborhood public schools are viable options.

“Charter schools provide choice for parents that are seeking choice, so I think it’s a viable option, but [neighborhood schools] that’s going to be the core work that not only myself but the people behind me in the agency that I represent will have while I’m commissioner,” he said.

Charter school advocates and public school officials say they see him as even-keeled when it comes to school choice.

“I haven’t found him to be pro-charter or anti-charter. It doesn’t seem like he’s focused on governance and structure. What he is focused on are great schools for kids. And I think just more broadly, I haven’t found him to be driven by ideology and politics,” said Dacia Toll, the chief executive officer of Achievement First, which operates the largest network of charter schools in Connecticut and also has schools in Rhode Island and New York. “He is more focused on making sure every kid gets an excellent education than the type of school they go to.”

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jacqueline Rabe Thomas is CT Mirror’s Education and Housing Reporter and an original member of the CT Mirror staff. She has won first-place awards for investigative reporting from state, New England, and national organizations. Before joining CT Mirror in late 2009, Jacqueline was a reporter, online editor and website developer for The Washington Post Co.’s Maryland newspaper chains. She has also worked for Congressional Quarterly and the Toledo Free Press. Jacqueline received an undergraduate degree in journalism from Bowling Green State University and a master’s in public policy from Trinity College.

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Advocates call on state to improve response to vulnerable students
by Adria Watson

State child advocate Sarah Eagan and attorney Martha Stone want the state to do more for these students during COVID.

Miguel Cardona’s ideas about education were forged in Meriden, CT. Now he will bring them to Washington, D.C.
by Jacqueline Rabe Thomas and Adria Watson

Miguel Cardona's experiences in Meriden will likely be front-of-mind as he coordinates policy as U.S. Secretary of Education.

State launches database showing FAFSA financial aid form completion rate
by Adria Watson

The FAFSA form is critical for students who might receive financial aid for college.

Superintendents association calls on state to increase funding for CT schools
by Adria Watson and Jacqueline Rabe Thomas

A coalition of superintendents is asking for a 2.5% annual increase in state spending for public schools.

Some states train jobless for post-pandemic workforce
by Sophie Quinton | Stateline

Amid high unemployment, governments are spending coronavirus relief dollars on training programs to help workers find new jobs quickly.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Miguel Cardona, who are you?
by Ann Policelli Cronin

When I ask Connecticut teachers about Miguel Cardona, those who know him or have worked with him say that he is really nice guy who knows what the challenges in our classrooms are, knows how to help teachers to improve their teaching, and respects public schools. All good. But what is his vision for teaching and learning that he will bring to the U.S. Department of Education?

Opinion Connecticut needs a strong two-party system, this Democrat says
by Edward Marcus

J.R. Romano’s recent resignation as the state’s Republican Party chair has brought into focus the need for a viable opposition party in Connecticut. It is not healthy politics when everything is totally controlled by one party:  the legislature, the governorship, and most of the major municipalities in our state.

Opinion Connecticut’s $100 million college shell game
by Stephen Adair

The plan to consolidate the 12 community colleges in Connecticut into one college with 12 campuses is called “Students First,” which is ironic because it does not fund students first.  It funds a new administration in a new, statewide bureaucracy. The Board of Regents (BOR) and the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system office […]

Opinion Inconsistent television captioning is a barrier to equal access
by Jeffrey Bravin and Barbara Cassin

Our world long ago entered the age of the 24-hour news cycle, and a full understanding of the “who, what, when, where and why” of the news is critical for deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing citizens. Yet, Connecticut’s inconsistent quality of television captioning locks our community out of the complete sense of what is happening.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO