December 23, 2020
Our Turn Releases Statement on President-elect Biden’s Nomination of Dr. Miguel Cardona as Education Secretary
New York, N.Y. (Dec. 23, 2020)— Student organizers at Our Turn released the following statement in response to the nomination of Connecticut Commissioner of Education Dr. Miguel Cardona as the next U.S. Secretary of Education.
“Our Turn students congratulate Commissioner Cardona on his nomination as the next U.S. Secretary of Education. Dr. Cardona has demonstrated his ability to re-imagine the future of education by putting students and families first. We are inspired by his first hand understanding of how education is a great ‘equalizer.’ As a first generation college graduate, having been a child of color born in housing projects, Dr. Cardona reflects the ethos of the BIPOC student experience in America. We echo Dr. Cardona’s sentiment, ‘skin color and zip code’ should not be the key determinants of the opportunities we will have throughout our lifetime. We stand with him and support his aims to dismantle the ‘normalization of failure’ and establish new norms for an educational system that promotes equity, whole child development, and allows space for student voices to be heard and engaged.
We look forward to working with Dr. Cardona and his team as they strive to produce scalable solutions that impact BIPOC and low income students and families. We are hopeful that Dr. Cardona will stand with us in our fight to bring students to the table to address the longstanding disparities that have now been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
When confirmed, we will look to Dr. Cardona to engage BIPOC students as partners to deliver transformative changes within the education system. The Raise Your Hand Student Agenda presents an actionable path to strategically dismantle systemic racism from the bottom-up, starting with education. Recognition of the Student Agenda is a step towards reconciling the institutional practices that have historically stifled a student’s access to upward mobility. Under Dr. Cardona’s leadership, we look forward to working closely with the Department of Education as active participants in leading change and achieving educational justice.”
About Our Turn:
Our Turn, a 501(c)(3), elevates the voices of young people in the fight for educational equity. Our Turn Action Network, a 501(c)(4), deploys policy advocacy efforts for the achievement of educational justice.
About the Raise Your Hand Campaign for Educational Justice:
Raise Your Hand is a national movement to build public support for a student-driven vision to reimagine education.
