WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden said Tuesday he plans to nominate Miguel Cardona, the education commissioner of Connecticut, as secretary of the Department of Education, choosing a major proponent of reopening schools during the coronavirus pandemic.
If confirmed by the Senate, Cardona, 45, would lead Biden's push to reopen the majority of public schools in the first 100 days of his administration. Biden's pick would add another Latino to his increasingly diverse Cabinet.
The selection marks a rapid rise for Cardona, who has served as Connecticut's education chief for 16 months after working as a public school educator for two decades in Meriden, Connecticut, which has a school system of just 7,459 students.