Secretary Cardona鈥檚 ABCs of building respect for teachers
| Washington
With school back in full swing, I was delighted to host Education Secretary Miguel Cardona at a Monitor Breakfast on Sept. 7. He certainly has a lot on his plate: The Biden administration鈥檚 controversial plan for student debt relief. Learning loss during the pandemic. Parent uproar over contentious social issues. Teacher shortages.
Those last issues feed into a deeper theme that animates Secretary Cardona, who began his career as a 4th grade teacher: respect. He links a lack of respect for public school teachers to resignations 鈥� and to the need for teacher 鈥減ipeline鈥� programs, now operating, that bring new people into the profession.听
I asked Dr. Cardona how respect for teaching can be instilled in public consciousness, and he started with a story. As a 21-year-old student teacher, he said, he always wore a necktie. One day, a veteran teacher pulled him aside and expressed appreciation.听
鈥淲e have to make sure that we look professional,鈥� the teacher said.听
But appearances are only the start. Dr. Cardona, like the teacher he is, used a mnemonic device to explain what he calls the 鈥淎BCs鈥� of building respect for educators: A for agency, B for better working conditions, and C for competitive salaries.听
Agency, he says, means granting teachers some autonomy in how they meet students鈥� needs. Better working conditions can mean not having to teach a class of 27 kids in a 95 degree classroom. And competitive pay, that鈥檚 a big one.
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鈥淭eachers on average make 33% less than college graduates with similar time and degrees,鈥� Dr. Cardona says. 鈥淭eachers in, I think it鈥檚 Montana, come in at $32,000. Can you imagine?鈥�
State and local governments, he makes clear, have to step up their game on teacher pay.听
My听article on the breakfast听led with his defense of student debt forgiveness, as did听. Fox News focused on听.听听The Washington Examiner led with Dr. Cardona鈥檚 comment that听听is 鈥渁 slap in the face to the profession.鈥澨�
The听听can be viewed here.听
As with all Cabinet secretaries, Dr. Cardona鈥檚 life informs his work. For him, that includes growing up in Meriden, Connecticut, with Puerto Rican parents, and not knowing a word of English when he started school. It also means being the dad of two teenagers 鈥� a son now in college and a daughter still in high school.听
Father, he says, is 鈥渢he title I love the most.鈥�
