Who Is Miguel Cardona, Biden's Choice for Education Chief?
2021-01-10
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1The United States will soon welcome Joe Biden as its new president.
2The president-elect has already named several people to serve in government leadership positions.
3For example, Janet Yellin is his candidate for Secretary of the Treasury and General Lloyd Austin is his choice for Defense Secretary.
4Biden also named Miguel Cardona as the new Secretary of Education.
5The 45-year-old man currently serves as education chief for the state of Connecticut.
6 Biden has called Cardona "brilliant."
7Cardona grew up in government-supported housing in that state.
8His parents, who are from Puerto Rico, spoke Spanish to him.
9Cardona did not even speak English when he entered the public school system.
10Cardona started his career in education as a fourth-grade teacher.
11He became the top administrator, or principal, of a Connecticut public school at the young age of 28.
12He says his personal history has provided him a special understanding of the nation's educational inequalities.
13"I, being bilingual and bicultural, am as American as apple pie and rice and beans," Cardona said.
14Cardona was appointed education chief in Connecticut just months before the COVID-19 crisis began last year.
15When schools moved to distance learning, he hurried to get more than 100,000 laptop computers to students across the state.
16Since then, however, he has increasingly urged schools to reopen, saying it is harmful to keep students at home.
17Cardona's first duty in his new job will be to help public schools across the U.S. safely reopen.
18Biden has promised to have a majority of U.S. schools reopened within his first 100 days in office.
19During the campaign, Biden also said he will work to get money to schools that are struggling.
20He plans to ask Cardona to help more young children get into preschool for free and to diversify the nation's teaching force.
21If the U.S. Senate confirms Cardona, he will replace Trump appointee Betsy Devos in the position.
22Last week, the outgoing Secretary of Education wrote a letter to the U.S. Congress to say goodbye.
23In the letter, DeVos said the coronavirus crisis showed many things that are "not encouraging" about the U.S. education system.
24She also said she will continue to work for students even after her service as Secretary is over.
25DeVos is a major supporter of private education for Americans who want it.
26She sought policy that would give financial assistance to poorer students so they could attend private schools.
27Devos argued that it was wrong to keep federal money from students who want to go a private high school while permitting federal money to go to students who attend a private university.
28Her policy proposal failed.
29DeVos, in her letter, asked Congress to reconsider her idea.
30DeVos also pushed schools to reopen during the health crisis.
31However, the Education Department did not create national guidelines for reopening operations.
32Biden has promised to withdraw or remake several of DeVos' policies.
33I'm Jill Robbins.
1The United States will soon welcome Joe Biden as its new president. 2The president-elect has already named several people to serve in government leadership positions. For example, Janet Yellin is his candidate for Secretary of the Treasury and General Lloyd Austin is his choice for Defense Secretary. 3Biden also named Miguel Cardona as the new Secretary of Education. The 45-year-old man currently serves as education chief for the state of Connecticut. Biden has called Cardona "brilliant." 4Cardona grew up in government-supported housing in that state. His parents, who are from Puerto Rico, spoke Spanish to him. Cardona did not even speak English when he entered the public school system. 5Cardona started his career in education as a fourth-grade teacher. He became the top administrator, or principal, of a Connecticut public school at the young age of 28. 6As American as apple pie and rice and beans 7He says his personal history has provided him a special understanding of the nation's educational inequalities. 8"I, being bilingual and bicultural, am as American as apple pie and rice and beans," Cardona said. 9Cardona was appointed education chief in Connecticut just months before the COVID-19 crisis began last year. When schools moved to distance learning, he hurried to get more than 100,000 laptop computers to students across the state. Since then, however, he has increasingly urged schools to reopen, saying it is harmful to keep students at home. 10Cardona's first duty in his new job will be to help public schools across the U.S. safely reopen. Biden has promised to have a majority of U.S. schools reopened within his first 100 days in office. 11During the campaign, Biden also said he will work to get money to schools that are struggling. He plans to ask Cardona to help more young children get into preschool for free and to diversify the nation's teaching force. 12The outgoing Secretary writes a letter 13If the U.S. Senate confirms Cardona, he will replace Trump appointee Betsy Devos in the position. Last week, the outgoing Secretary of Education wrote a letter to the U.S. Congress to say goodbye. 14In the letter, DeVos said the coronavirus crisis showed many things that are "not encouraging" about the U.S. education system. She also said she will continue to work for students even after her service as Secretary is over. 15DeVos is a major supporter of private education for Americans who want it. She sought policy that would give financial assistance to poorer students so they could attend private schools. 16Devos argued that it was wrong to keep federal money from students who want to go a private high school while permitting federal money to go to students who attend a private university. 17Her policy proposal failed. 18DeVos, in her letter, asked Congress to reconsider her idea. 19DeVos also pushed schools to reopen during the health crisis. However, the Education Department did not create national guidelines for reopening operations. 20Biden has promised to withdraw or remake several of DeVos' policies. 21I'm Jill Robbins. 22Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on stories by The Associated Press. Caty Weaver was the editor. 23__________________________________________________ 24Words in This Story 25brilliant- adj. extremely intelligent or impressive 26bilingual - adj. speaking two or more languages 27encouraging - adj. causing a hopeful feeling 28diversify- v. to change something so it has more different kinds of people 29What are the most important policies of your own government's education leaders? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section.