The United States Senate on Monday confirmed President Joe Biden's pick for Education Secretary, Miguel Cardona. The Senate approved his confirmation in a 64-33 vote, with 14 Republicans backing Cardona's nomination.
Before his confirmation, Cardona served as the Commissioner of Education in Connecticut, where he pushed for students to return to in-person classes. According to POLITICO, he was successful at getting kids back in the classrooms "without alienating the state's teachers unions."
The 45-year-old has experience, both as a public school teacher and as an administrator, which fulfills President Biden's campaign promise of picking a public school educator.
Cardona's confirmation comes as the Biden administration comes under fire as many schools across the nation are still being conducted remotely. Democrats have repeatedly told conservatives to "follow the science" yet the fail to "follow the science" when it comes to school reopenings. The Centers for Disease Control has repeatedly said there is very little risk of transmission taking place at schools. The CDC and Dr. Anthony Fauci have even gone so far as to say teachers can safely return to the classrooms without the Wuhan coronavirus vaccine. Teachers' unions, however, have drawn a line in the sand, saying they refuse to return to in-person instruction until all are vaccinated.
The Biden administration has repeatedly moved the goalposts when it comes to school reopenings. At first White House Press Secretary said a school conducting in-person instruction at least once per week would be considered "reopened," Fox News reported.
President Biden, however, said his goal is to have K-8 schools conducting in-person instruction five days a week by the end of his first 100 days in office. It's unclear what the timeline is for middle and high school kids to return to full in-person instruction.
