But the nominee acknowledged that Covid-19 opened up lasting and painful disparities in schools across the country – and that these problems will persist after the pandemic has passed.
“We also know that this crisis is ongoing, that we will bear its impact in the years to come and that the problems and inequalities that have plagued our educational system since long before Covid will still be with us even after the virus has disappeared,” said Cardona.
“So it is our responsibility, it is our privilege to take advantage of this moment and do the most American thing imaginable: Forging opportunities out of the crisis, taking advantage of our determination, our ingenuity and our relentless optimism as a people and building something better than we have ever had. before. “
Cardona’s choice fulfills Biden’s campaign promise to appoint an educator with experience in public school to replace Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, but his appointment also allows the new government to highlight a fast-growing Latin education officer who has observed his public school education and birth at Yale Acres public housing complex in Meriden, Connecticut.
“And I, being bilingual and bicultural, am as American as apple pie and rice and beans,” said Cardona.