Any disappointment American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten may have felt at being passed over for U.S. Secretary of Education by President-elect Joe Biden was overwhelmed by her approval of his nominee, Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel A. Cardona.
Ms. Weingarten, who has been hyper-critical of Trump Administration Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for her indifference to traditional public schools and emphasis on privatization and charter schools, issued a statement Dec. 22, shortly after Mr. Cardona was tapped, calling him not just a proud product of public schoolsâhe s made public education and fighting for equity his life s work. Will Help Students Thrive
The Daily Universe
By COLLIN BINKLEY, ALEXANDRA JAFFE and JONATHAN LEMIRE Associated Press
President-elect Joe Biden has chosen Miguel Cardona, Connecticut’s education chief and a lifelong champion of public schools, to serve as education secretary.
The selection delivers on Biden’s promise to nominate someone with experience working in public education and would fulfill his goal of installing an education chief who stands in sharp contrast to Secretary Betsy DeVos.
Unlike DeVos, a school choice advocate whom Biden says is an opponent of public schools, Cardona is a product of them, starting when he entered kindergarten unable to speak English.
Aarthi Swaminathan
December 22, 2020, 12:35 PM
When 23-year-old high school art teacher Annah Jane Paschall found out that her $90,000 pile of student loans were being paid off, she was stunned.
“There s been very few times in my life where I have felt physical like emotional weight physically lifted,” Paschall, who was chosen by skincare brand First Aid Beauty’s campaign to pay off $1.3 million in student loans, told Yahoo Finance. “Going into marriage, thinking wow, I hate that I m bringing in so much debt. a lot of dreams and ideas either felt like just a little bit tarnished because of the debt that I had.”
2020 Was a Difficult Year for Teachers and Learners
December 26, 2020
FILE - Students who attend Salt Lake City School District schools rally at East High School Monday, Dec. 7, 2020, in Salt Lake City, urging the school board and administrators to restart in-person learning. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Share
share
The URL has been copied to your clipboard
0:00
0:06:07
0:00
Pop-out player
At the beginning of 2020, the problems faced by American schools and colleges included issues like slavery, school shooting, sexual assault and the use of technology.
That all changed in March.
The coronavirus pandemic sent students and teachers home, forcing schools in the U.S. and around the world to move classrooms online.