The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
New education commissioner is all about the students
HARTFORD — For Miguel Cardona, it was never about curriculum. It has always been about students.
It’s how he approached education as a firstyear teacher, 21 years ago.
It is the mindset he brings with him as the state’s new commissioner of educationdesignate.
“I want to have a very aggressive agenda,” Cardona said last week, his back to the view that a sixthfloor downtown office at the state Department of Education provides.
“I want to go to the four corners of the state — urban centers and communities that are smaller,” he added. “Get out and be with kids, listen to teachers, principals, superintendents.”
Despite a chronic achievement gap and underfunding that has caused urban districts like Bridgeport to cut basic services, Cardona said his job as commissioner is to be a support in making sure the state’s 500,000 public school students have the
best opportunities for success.
“I know that there are some things are out of my purview,” Cardona said. “My job is to ensure with what they do have, we support them.”
Getting to the top
Until his cellphone rang as he was passing through a metal detector at SeaWorld Orlando with his kids a few weeks back, Cardona, 44, said he was happy to be an assistant superintendent in Meriden.
“I knew I was in the running,” he said of the commissioner’s job. “I knew the answer was coming soon.”
But he was in Florida with the family to surprise his sister on her birthday.
After getting through security, Cardona found a quiet corner and called the number back.
“My family is 10 feet away crossing their fingers,” Cardona said. “I learned it would be me. We hugged, said a prayer. There was some tears.”
Then he called his sister with the news, acting like he was still in Connecticut so as not to blow the birthday surprise.
Until now, Cardona’s entire career has been spent in Meriden. He taught for five years, then became the state’s youngest principal at age 28. In 2012 he was named Connecticut’s National Distinguished Principal. He has a doctorate from the University of Connecticut.
At the state level, Cardona worked as cochair of the Connecticut Legislative Achievement Gap Task Force and the Connecticut Early Childhood Birth to Grade Three Leaders.
Cardona won’t say much about the circumstances that led him to be the top pick instead of Bloomfield Superintendent James Thompson, who was offered, then unoffered the job.
Cardona said he only knows he applied for the position, gave his all in the interview process and knew ultimately the state Board of Education and Gov. Ned Lamont would choose who they felt most comfortable with for the position.
“If that is me — fantastic,” Cardona said. “If it is not me, then ... I loved what I did in Meriden.” Then the call came.
“I felt ecstatic,” he said “It is surreal, but it’s good to be here.”
Though there was social media speculation that Ray and Barbara Dalio, the billionaire couple who have pledged $100 million to help improve the state’s education system, somehow had a say in the decision, both Dalio officials and Cardona say that is not true.
The Dalios funded the Rise Network in 2015 to work with teachers in East Hartford, New Haven, Hartford and Meriden. Cardona said he has had little interaction with the couple.
Cardona was sworn in as commissionerdesignate on Aug. 7, and awaits official confirmation when the General Assembly goes back into session. As commissioner, he will earn $192,500.
Experience
Cardona doesn’t think it matters that he bypassed the role of superintendent to become commissioner.
Neither does Fran Rabinowitz, a former Bridgeport and Hamden schools superintendent who is now executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents.
She thinks Cardona will be a good ambassador for education.
“When I met with Miguel he gave me every indication he wanted to partner with superintendents, that he wanted to learn from them as well,” Rabinowitz said. “It made me very hopeful that we will have a good partnership.
“Obviously he understands the achievement gap and feels strongly about working on that,” she said.
A recent stateadministered SAT test showed a 90point gap between white students and students who are black, Hispanic or have high needs. The gap between those groups in language arts is roughly 100 points.
Cardona said that without state efforts to give additional funding and support to alliance districts — the state’s 33 worst performing school systems — such gaps would be worse.
“We need to do more,” he said. “I am passionate about ensuring that students can achieve equitable outcomes throughout the state regardless of ZIP code or skin color, which unfortunately often today still serve as a predictor of outcomes.”
Other issues
Meriden was part of the Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding that fought and lost a hard battle over how much the state contributes to public education.
Asked whether the state is providing enough money to meet its statutory obligation to educate kids, Cardona was careful in his answer.
“I think obviously having more resources would help,” he said. “I know the governor is committed to putting whatever resources (he can) toward a good and strong education system.”
As districts continue to be called on to do more with less, Cardona wants to promote collaborations, not just between districts but also among sister agencies to make the most of limited resources.
About testing, Cardona admits as a teacher he sometimes felt there was too much.
“I remember looking at my class and saying, what percent of my kids are able to hit the target?” he said. “Testing for the sake of testing prevents educators from getting to the core work of teaching students the skills that (students) need to be successful.”
Yet, without assessing how students are performing, there is little chance fixing issues in learning or making sure all students are able to achieve at high
“I am passionate about ensuring that students can achieve equitable outcomes throughout the state regardless of ZIP code or skin color, which unfortunately often today still serve as a predictor of outcomes.” Miguel Cardona, state education c ommissioner
levels, he added.
On charter schools, Cardona said it is important for parents to have choices.
“As a parent myself I want to make sure I have options for my children,” he said. His two teenage children attend public school in Meriden. So did he.
Cardona does want traditional public schools, magnet schools and charters to all abide by the same accountability measures. He also wants all schools to prepare students for college and a workforce that is changing.
Advice to his younger self
Cardona said he would tell any new teacher to stay true to why they got into the profession.
“They should focus on building strong relationships with students,” he said.
When he started teaching, Cardona said, he knew relationships mattered. He did not know the degree to which an educator has to deal with trauma.
“I never took a course on how to deal with some of the things students were going through at home or developmentally,” Cardona said.
He also didn’t expect to be teaching such a wide range of kids in a single class — some performing two or three grades levels ahead and others, two or three below.
“I realized quickly the need for planning for different needs,” he said.
Cardona’s biggest mistake as an educator, he said, came not as a teacher but as an administrator. When he first became a principal he had his hand in everything. He had to learn to trust his staff.
“I learned quickly that there is power in people,” he said.
That call for collaboration will be shared with a couple of hundred school superintendents on Wednesday at the commissioner’s annual backtoschool meeting.
The theme will be “We is Better Than Me.”
“I will tell them together we have an opportunity to give kids the best opportunity at success in their life,” said Cardona. “What a responsibility. How fortunate are we to have that opportunity?”