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.