Will Cardona bring new momentum for integration?

In America, wherever you are from, it is hard to ignore the pernicious impact of school segregation on children and communities.

Miguel Cardona, commissioner of Education for Connecticut and President Jeo Biden’s nominee for U.S. Secretary of Education, hails from a state nationally recognized for successful interdistrict school plans that promote quality integrated schools. As of this year, almost half of the students in the racially isolated Hartford school district are attending racially and economically integrated schools, including both regional magnet schools and suburban district schools. Professor Gary Orfield of the UCLA Civil Rights Project has observed, “What has been accomplished in Connecticut is a victory over great odds. It is also an example of the way there can be change that expands the possibilities for all.”

And Cardona would be familiar with this. He was born, raised, educated and worked as an educator in a highly diverse school district in Connecticut. His firsthand experience in Connecticut indicates his legacy, if confirmed, could be one of supporting a robust educational equity agenda that includes many issues school integration advocates have been seeking as part of a broader racial justice agenda in federal education policy. Additionally, if confirmed, he would make history as the second Latino and first Puerto Rican U.S. Secretary of Education.

In my career as a civil rights lawyer and professor, I have worked in Mississippi, Connecticut and Texas, and helped to direct a national civil rights litigation office. In America, wherever you are from, it is hard to ignore the pernicious impact of school segregation on children and communities. There are many paths we need to follow to redress our country’s history of racism and segregation, but certainly school and housing integration need to be a part of the answer. Racial justice, and racial reconciliation, will only go so far if we continue to maintain racial separation in schools.

COVID has exacerbated existing inequities associated with segregation. As commissioner of education, Cardona has faced the challenge of leading schools during this public health crisis. Cardona clearly recognizes from firsthand experience that funding inequity and punitive accountability systems help drive segregation, and COVID could further jeopardize integration gains. We trust Cardona will: (1) call for sufficient funding for states to cover education budget shortfalls, with a focus on welltargeted funding to ensure racial equity; and (2) grant states flexibility to use performance assessments instead of high-stakes testing.

Cardona must also meet with civil rights/education advocates, students and families from across the country to inform Department of Education leadership/staffing and, in particular, the expansion of civil rights staffing and enforcement. In addition, we ask Cardona to (3) issue guidance to support inclusive, integrated and culturally sustaining learning and finally, (4) ensure equitable access to virtual education through broadband and device access.

Associated Press Education secretary nominee Miguel Cardona listens during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on his nomination on Capitol Hill on Wednesday in Washington.