Biden vows to ‘get right to work’

Trump continues to allege voter fraud

WILMINGTON, Del. — Vowing “to get right to work,” President-elect Joe Biden on Tuesday shrugged off President Donald Trump’s fierce refusal to accept the election outcome as “inconsequential,” even as Democrats elsewhere warned that the Republican president’s actions were dangerous.

Raising unsupported claims of voter fraud, Trump has blocked the incoming president from receiving intelligence briefings and withheld federal funding intended to help facilitate the transfer of power. Trump’s resistance, backed by senior Republicans in Washington and across the country, could also prevent background investigations and security clearances for prospective staff and access to federal agencies to discuss transition planning.

As some Democrats and former Republican officials warned of serious consequences, Biden sought to lower the national temperature as he addressed reporters from a makeshift transition headquarters near his home in downtown Wilmington.

He described Trump’s position as little more than an “embarrassing” mark on the outgoing president’s legacy, while predicting that Republicans on Capitol Hill would eventually accept the reality of Biden’s victory. The Republican resistance, Biden said, “does not change the dynamic at all in what we’re able to do.”

Additional intelligence briefings “would be useful,” Biden added, but “we don’t see anything slowing us down.”

Association. “The same communities which our state’s public charter schools proudly and diligently serve.”

Felipe said his organization looks forward to a Biden-Harris administration and a secretary of education that is focused on closing the nation’s achievement gap and supporting all quality public schools, be it traditional or charter.

It will take time to undo what Mark Ojakian, president of the Connecticut State College and University system and who has penned several letters to DeVos, begging her to reverse course on several actions, called “the damage.”

“I anticipate rolling back prerequisites on how federal CARES Act money we get in the future can be spent,” Ojakian said. “The rules around distribution were discriminatory.”

DACA students pay the same tuition as everyone else, Ojakian said, and they were denied reimbursements when other students received them this past summer.

“I think with a different president, you will see folks come together around a common purpose,” Ojakian said. “Joe Biden is a different president. He will be a different leader.”

Kristen Record, a Stratford physics teacher and Connecticut Teacher of the Year in 2011, said she hopes so.

Record said change will start when an educator is put in charge of the U.S. Department of Education.

“I want to see a diverse group of teacher-leaders informing both our nation’s plans for addressing the needs of public schools during this pandemic and the leadership of the department during the coming administration,” Record said. “Now, more than ever, that’s the kind of expertise we need in the Department of Education.”

Sheena Graham, a music teacher at Harding High School in Bridgeport and Connecticut’s 2019 Teacher of the Year, said experience in education is just the start of what is needed.

“(We need) someone who understands the disparities that exist between schools (in multiple settings),” Graham said. “Someone who understands the stress of teaching daily with school loan debt that is crushing your ability to stay sane.”

Jan Hochadel, president of the American Federation of Teachers-Connecticut, said the hope is that the Biden-Harris administration will reverse what she considers four years of DeVos’s failed leadership.

In July, the Biden campaign laid out a “roadmap to reopening schools safely ,” which backed more funding for schools to deal with the pandemic.

A new stimulus package, however, has been held up in Congress.

Recently, Stef Feldman, the Biden campaign’s national policy director, told members of the Education Writers Association that Biden would nominate a former public school educator as his secretary of education without being more specific.

While Trump and DeVos have called for schools to reopen during the pandemic, Biden said he would promise to provide criteria to guide states, but not a mandate.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., predicted it will be a new dawn for public education in America with Biden. Even without a Democratic Senate majority, he predicts new funding will be on its way — perhaps before Thanksgiving.

“I expect to see a commitment to extend education at every level, with a particular focus on providing individuals with skills to fill defense and manufacturing jobs that exist now in Connecticut and other parts of the country,” Blumenthal said.

Having a teacher in the White House who has the president’s ear won’t hurt, Blumenthal added, referring to future first lady Jill Biden.

Jill Biden taught English and reading in high schools before becoming a professor of English. She teaches at Northern Virginia Community College and has said she plans to keep her job while her husband is president.

Lois Aime, director of educational technology at Norwalk Community College, called having a community college colleague in the White House wonderful.

“She was a keynote speaker at a conference I was at a couple of years ago and her talk on community colleges was worth the cost of the whole conference,” Aime said.

Aime has high hopes the Bidens will move forward on higher education issues to not only fix what she said Betsy Devos tried to destroy, but to push for the funding of community colleges and public higher education in general.

“I hope, as first lady, she will promote the transformational possibilities for students who attend community colleges,” Aime said. “Actually, she has already started to do so.”

Dwayne Smith, chief executive officer at Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport, agreed.

“It will shine a spotlight on the critical nature of community colleges,” said Smith, who himself attended a community college on his way to an eventual doctorate.

“More people will realize that the community college system is a viable choice,” Smith said. “It will shine a spotlight on what we offer and what we do.”

Jeff Leake, president of the Connecticut Education Association, said Jill Biden has already had conversations with teachers. He said he expects the line of communications will remain open once her husband takes office.

“Clearly, No. 1, we need a change of direction from the last 20 years,” Leake said.

As for Biden’s secretary of education, Leake not only wants a teacher in the job but has a candidate in mind: Lily Eskelsen Garcia, who recently stepped down as president of the National Education Association.

A former Utah Teacher of the Year, Garcia would be a really excellent choice if she wants the job, Leake said.

Maxwell, meanwhile, would love to look no further than U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-Conn., as the U.S. Secretary of Education.

A former Connecticut Teacher of the Year who taught history in Waterbury before going on to become a congresswoman, Hayes knows policy, according to Maxwell, and knows how critical it is for teachers to help not only struggling students but high achieving students too.

“With her as secretary of education, that would be a huge step in the right direction,” Maxwell said.

Hayes’ office on Monday would not say if she is interested in the post if offered.

“It is clear that we need a secretary of education who believes in public education and will prioritize investments in education at the core of any effort to rebuild our economy, both during and following the pandemic,” Hayes stated. “COVID-19 has laid bare the disparities in our system and the need to support students, education professionals and support staff.”

Hayes said she wants full funding for special education, school infrastructure, closing the digital divide, workforce development, college affordability, infusing the teacher pipeline and supporting current professionals as major priorities for the new education secretary.

“There must be an assurance that every school in this country is supported in delivering the highest quality instruction and academic environment for our children,” Hayes said. “I know that Presidentelect Biden and Vice President-elect (Kamala) Harris understand the challenges we face, and will look to fill this role with the very best person."