Miguel Cardona Wiki – Miguel Cardona Biography
Miguel Cardona is an American educator who has served as the Connecticut Commissioner of Education since 2019. On December 22, 2020, President-elect Joe Biden nominated Cardona to serve as United States Secretary of Education in his cabinet.
A native of Meriden, Connecticut, Cardona began his career as a fourth-grade teacher at the Israel Putnam School. In 2003, at the age of 27, he was named principal of Hanover School, also in Meriden, making him the youngest principal in the state.
Cardona grew up speaking Spanish as his first language and struggled to learn English when starting kindergarten. He was raised in a housing project in Meriden and graduated from the H.C. Wilcox Technical High School, where he was a part of the automotive studies program.
Cardona earned a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Central Connecticut State University in 1997. He obtained a Master of Science in bilingual and bicultural education at the University of Connecticut (UConn) in 2001. In 2004, he completed a professional sixth-year certification at UConn where he earned a Doctor of Education in 2011.
Cardona’s dissertation entitled, Sharpening the Focus of Political Will to Address Achievement Disparities, studied the gaps between English-language learners and their classmates. Cardona’s doctoral major advisor was Barry G. Sheckley and his associate advisor was Casey D. Cobb.
Cardona began his career as a fourth-grade teacher of Israel Putnam Elementary School in Meriden, Connecticut. In 2003, at Hanover Elementary School, he was promoted and made the youngest principal in the state’s history for ten years. From 2015 to 2019, Cardona served as Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning in his home town. Cardona was also an adjunct professor of education in the University of Connecticut’s Department of Educational Leadership. During his career, he has focused on closing gaps between English-language learners and their peers.
In August 2019, Governor Ned Lamont appointed Cardona as Commissioner of Education; Cardona is the first Latino to be appointed to the position.
Cardona was brought to the attention of Biden through Linda Darling-Hammond, the leader of the transition’s efforts, which she also did for Barack Obama in 2008. Darling-Hammond and Cardona have worked together on multiple projects. Politico noted that “Hispanic lawmakers are stressing in particular the need for a Latina to join the administration.”
As of December 2020, though a final decision has not been made, Cardona emerged as a candidate for United States Secretary of Education in president-elect Joe Biden’s cabinet. Biden began to lean toward Cardona over two other “high-profile” teachers’ union leaders, Lily Eskelsen García and Randi Weingarten. By seemingly choosing Cardona over these two, Biden “appears to have sidestepped any sibling rivalry between the NEA and AFT”.
Miguel Cardona Age
Miguel Cardona is 45 years old. He was born on July 11, 1975, in Meriden, Connecticut, U.S.
Marissa Perez Cardona & Miguel Cardona
In 2002, Cardona married Marissa Pérez, a family-school liaison and former Miss Connecticut (2001). They have two children.
Biden announces Miguel Cardona as education secretary nominee
Joe Biden’s transition team late Tuesday announced Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona as the President-elect’s nominee for education secretary. If confirmed by the Senate, Cardona would play a key role in reopening schools across the country that have been forced online amid the coronavirus pandemic.
CNN was first to report that Cardona would be nominated for the role.
“In Miguel Cardona, America will have an experienced and dedicated public school teacher leading the way at the Department of Education — ensuring that every student is equipped to thrive in the economy of the future, that every educator has the resources they need to do their jobs with dignity and success, and that every school is on track to reopen safely,” Biden said Tuesday night in a statement.
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The President-elect continued, “He will help us address systemic inequities, tackle the mental health crisis in our education system, give educators a well-deserved raise, ease the burden of education debt, and secure high-quality, universal pre-K for every three- and four-year-old in the country.”
Biden described Cardona as a “lifelong champion of public education” who “understands that our children are the kite strings that keep our national ambitions aloft.”
Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will introduce Cardona at an event in Wilmington, Delaware, on Wednesday, according to the transition team.
Biden has said that getting kids back to school safely is one of his top priorities when he takes office in January. In a recent speech laying out his plan to address the pandemic, he said that if Congress provides the necessary funding to protect students, educators, and staff and if Americans follow strong public health measures, “my team will work to see that a majority of our schools can be open by the end of my first 100 days.”
During his presidential campaign, Biden proposed guaranteeing two free years of community college or other training as part of a higher education plan that would also aim to cut student loan obligations. His plan includes new spending aimed at improving access to college for low-income individuals, minorities, and undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.
Net Worth
Miguel’s net worth is unknown.