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Miguel Cardona

Biden poised to pick Connecticut schools chief as education secretary

President-elect Joe Biden is set to nominate the commissioner of public schools in Connecticut as his education secretary, settling on a low-profile candidate who has pushed to reopen schools and is not aligned with either side in education policy battles of recent years, two people familiar with the matter said Monday.

Miguel Cardona was named Connecticut’s top schools official last year and if confirmed will have achieved a meteoric rise, moving from an assistant superintendent in Meriden, Conn., a district with 9,000 students, to secretary of education in less than two years.

Miguel Cardona emerges as Biden's choice to open schools

Joe Biden is leaning toward nominating Miguel Cardona, education commissioner in Connecticut, to serve as secretary of the Department of Education and lead a reopening of the country's schools, according to people familiar with the matter.

Why it matters: Cardona, who has focused on reopening schools in his home state, emerged as the president-elect leaned away from another potential candidate, Leslie Fenwick, dean emeritus at Howard University, and two teacher's union candidates. A final decision has not been made.