President-elect Biden’s Cabinet: Who Will be Our New Secretary of Education?
Words by Daniela Cortez
Graphic by Aspasia Celia Tsampas
Like many aspects of our new normal during the pandemic, schools staying open has been the subject of great debate among political officials, families, and students alike. This recent remote semester has been tough on everyone at The City College of New York (CCNY) and the fact that the community will still not be returning to campus next semester has been met with collective sighs. Having classes online, despite being for our safety, has made learning more difficult for not only college students, but for everyone in New York City.
Especially since New York City public schools had been shut down again by Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday, November 19 following an increase infection rate of the Coronavirus. Now more than ever, a strong Secretary of Education will help students and educators during this ongoing COVID-19 crisis to help guide schools during this turbulent time. The hope is that President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for Secretary of Education will help assuage these worries.
The past four years under the Trump administration have been untraditional under direction of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education. A controversial choice since her nomination, Betsy DeVos has continued to be a contentious leader as she had no previous experience as an educator. From her inability to address gun violence in schools to her school choice policies that never came to fruition, DeVos had historically left public schools on their own. Her decisions as Secretary of Education have been widely criticized over their tone-deaf sentimentality, like her decision to allow guns in school to “ward off bears.” She also rolled-back Obama-era guidance which allowed students to use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity and protection for students of color from discriminatory discipline. DeVos has consistently been in favor of leaving school decisions to local officials and has even tried to minimize her department and funding, much to the dismay of teacher unions.
At the beginning of the pandemic, DeVos waived federal testing requirements for K-12 students and worked with Congress to suspend student loans interest rates. However, her shift to condemning states’ more hesitant approach to school openings for the past fall semester has been met with backlash. She, along with Trump, had been forcefully insisting that schools open during the pandemic despite the high number of cases and infection rates. Her choice to stand by the president’s wants for schools to stay open was—like many of her other decisions—criticized, especially since her previous stance on school decisions were up to local officials rather than the federal government.
Since the announcement of President-elect Joe Biden’s win over incumbent Donald Trump, people have been excited to see who his picks for Cabinet members and other important staff will be. Biden has signaled that he intends on creating a diverse cabinet. So far, President-elect Biden has announced that he plans to nominate Anthony J. Blinken as Secretary of State, Jake Sullivan as National Security Adviser, Ron Klain as his Chief of Staff, and Linda Thomas-Greenfield as his ambassador to the United Nations. Some other Cabinet nominations are expected to be announced tomorrow.
President-elect Joe Biden has also stated his intent to nominate an educator for the role of Secretary of Education. Some possible candidates for Secretary of Education are Lily Eskelsen García and Randi Weingarten. Lily Eskelsen García is a former Utah teacher and former president of the National Education Association. Randi Weingarten is a former Brooklyn high school teacher and the current president of the American Federation of Students. Both had been educators for a number of years before having leadership positions which gave access to understanding students but also teachers’ needs. The possibility of having a former New York City educator could be a huge step for public schools everywhere. With an educator as Secretary of Education, hopefully there can be more policies that address the increasingly detrimental student loan crisis, COVID-19 safety, and online schooling. Moreover, there will hopefully be more focus on retaining funding for the education department and give focus to public education.
As the current remote semester comes to an end and coronavirus cases are increasing, going back to in-person classes is not something we can count on in the near future. Classes will be remote in the spring at CCNY in order to ensure the safety of students and to help decrease coronavirus cases. Having school remote or in-person will continue to be debated as coronavirus cases continue to rise, especially during this holiday season. Hopefully, Biden’s pick for Secretary of Education will be equipped to address issues concerning students during this difficult time.
