海角大神

Education Secretary Miguel聽Cardona聽came to the Monitor Breakfast on Sept. 13 bearing 鈥済ifts,鈥� as he put it: a stack of thick, glossy booklets entitled 鈥淩aise the Bar,鈥� touting his department鈥檚 goals. He was fresh off a back-to-school bus tour in the American heartland and, he says, feeling 鈥渕ore optimistic than usual.鈥�

Dr.聽Cardona聽spoke of how gratifying it was to put faces to policies, 鈥渨hether that鈥檚 early childhood programming in Illinois or after-school programming in Minnesota. It鈥檚 good to see students engaged.鈥�

Still, he hastened to add, these are challenging times for education, be it K-12 schools鈥� continuing efforts to recover from pandemic 鈥渓earning loss,鈥� teacher shortages, or the Department of Education鈥檚 new plan for student debt relief after the Supreme Court struck down the previous program. In June, the high court also ended affirmative action 鈥� race-conscious admissions 鈥� at colleges and universities, a topic that鈥檚 clearly near to Dr.聽Cardona鈥檚 heart. He was born in Meriden, Connecticut, to Puerto Rican parents, and English is his second language. He was the first in his family to attend college.

鈥淗igher education changed the trajectory of my life and my children's life,鈥� says Dr.聽Cardona, the father of a college sophomore and high school senior.

Now the secretary is going after 鈥渓egacy admissions鈥� 鈥� the practice of preferring students with alumni or donor connections,聽聽In July, his department聽聽into Harvard University鈥檚 admissions practices.

Dr.聽Cardona聽insists he has no bias against elite universities 鈥� their presidents 鈥渦nderstand what we鈥檙e trying to do鈥� 鈥� despite his decidedly nonelite background. After attending a technical high school, he spent four years fixing cars and then enrolled at Central Connecticut State University.

鈥淚 knew I couldn鈥檛 fail because my parents sacrificed too damn much for me to have a chance to go to college,鈥� Dr.聽Cardona聽says.

Today, he speaks of visiting schools that help 鈥渉omeless kids, students who live in a car, get their degree. I want to lift that up.鈥�

I鈥檓 delighted that the Monitor鈥檚 two education reporters 鈥� Jackie Valley, who lives in Nevada, and Ira Porter, who lives in Delaware 鈥� were able to come to Washington for the breakfast.聽Jackie鈥檚 coverage can be found here:聽Education secretary: America鈥檚 higher education system is 鈥榖roken.鈥�聽And the audio of the session聽