Education Sec’y Cardona: ‘Some Places’ Should Have Reopened Schools Quicker, But I ‘Can’t Speak for’ ‘Local Context’

On Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said that there were “some places that I wanted to see their schools open quicker” but he “can’t speak for local communities and local context.”

Cardona said, “[W]hen the president took office, 46% of our schools were open full-time, less than half. By November, over 99% of our schools were open full-time for in-person learning. So, we pushed to open up our schools safely. Different — it’s a local decision. So, I can’t speak about the whole country. I can tell you there are some places that I wanted to see their schools open quicker because we had vaccinations, because we knew what to do. But I can’t speak for local communities and local context. What I can tell you is, from day one, the president and myself made sure reopening schools was our priority. The president prioritized vaccinations for educators that summer, and we were able to reopen our schools and now reopening is the baseline. We have to do better for our students. They deserve it. They missed out on a lot. Parents are asking for it. And the funding is there from the federal level. So, we need to level up our system of education in this country.”

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