President Joe Biden has announced a new Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona. Miguel Cardona previously served as the Connecticut school’s chief and will now serve the United States on education topics and issues. Cardona also was an elementary school teacher and served as a principal in his district. He was even named a top educator in the kindergarten through high school as well! Cardona will replace the current secretary of education, Betsy DeVos, who was in charge of education during former President Trump’s presidency.

Several people, including the National Education Association President Becky Pringle and the Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, have made statements in support of Cardona and President Biden’s choice and have high hopes for the future of education in our nation.

One of Cardona’s goals is to help President Joe Biden’s plan to reopen schools during the global pandemic of COVID-19. They believe that they can reach a point in the coming months where the vaccine can be distributed to everyone and return to the regular classroom, while still maintaining social distancing, wearing masks and washing our hands. 

Many Americans are still worried about the pandemic, and others feel that this will be a workable solution for the next coming scholastic year. Cardona is also big into helping bilingual students reach their full potential by providing support and instruction that will benefit them in the long run. He has been a strong advocate for students and will continue to provide and secure a solid foundation for the future of education.

The University of Northern Iowa is also making great strides to bring back all students to fully in-person classes starting the fall of 2021. This semester, we have seen a mix of in-person, hybrid and online learning to acclimate to the pandemic. It appears to have been a very successful implementation of hybrid learning and in-person instruction as we now have the steps to ensure that our Panthers can continue to attend the in-person classes while preparing for the next semester of fully in-person learning. UNI’s Panther Survey allows for students to keep track of their symptoms daily as they prepare for school and this way they can make the choice to either attend via Zoom or attend the class.

UNI President Mark Nook stated recently in an email that “While we will maintain some of our classroom safety measures, the shift back to in-person classes and operations this fall will include increased capacity in our classrooms, dining centers, and common spaces; the reopening of our retail dining operations; and a return of on-campus events.”

Fall semester 2021 should bring ample opportunities for in-person learning and exciting possibilities for our Panthers!