(Washington, D.C.) - Today, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released the following statement on the announcement that President-elect Biden has nominated Dr. Miguel Cardona to serve as Secretary of the Department of Education:
“Students, parents, and educators nationwide have been thrown into uncertainty and chaos we’ve simply never seen before. They need a Secretary of Education who understands their responsibility is to students, first and foremost and who has the experience to help lead our nation’s schools out of this crisis in a way that deals head-on with the inequities leaving so many of our students behind.
“All of this makes Miguel Cardona an excellent choice. And after four years of a Secretary of Education who had absolutely no experience in public education, I’m thrilled Dr. Cardona is a former elementary school teacher, professor, and principal.
“Dr. Cardona’s focus education equity also means we’ll have a Secretary of Education who understands getting “back to normal" isn’t enough. As this pandemic has further highlighted the longstanding inequities and systemic racism students deal with every day-we need to double down on closing achievement gaps across our country to ensure that every student-no matter their race, socio-economic status, disability, or where they live-can get a quality public education-and we also need to take significant steps to make a college education more affordable, accessible, and attainable.
“Given how critical this role is in helping students-from pre-k through college-recover from this crisis, I will do everything I can to make sure this qualified and experienced nominee receives a swift, and fair consideration."
