On February 3, Education Secretary nominee Miguel Cardona testified before the Senate Education Committee for his confirmation hearing. For almost three hours lawmakers engaged with Mr. Cardona on a variety of topics including, COVID-19 vaccines for teachers and staff, the pandemic’s impact on students learning ability and overall mental health, transgender students participating in school sports teams, and the issue of access to a higher education.
According to EducationWeek, during the hearing Cardona noted that he does not “think we need to be bringing students [into schools] just to test them on a standardized test. I don’t think that makes any sense.” However, he added that, “If we don’t assess where our students are and their level of performance, it’s going to be difficult for us to provide some targeted support.”