Miguel Cardona

Miguel Angel Cardona (born July 11, 1975) is an American educator and is currently serving as the twelfth United States secretary of education under President Joe Biden since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 64–33 on March 1, 2021. Cardona previously served as commissioner of the Connecticut State Department of Education from 2019 to 2021. A native of Meriden, Connecticut, Cardona began his career as a fourth-grade teacher at Israel Putnam Elementary School in Meriden. In 2003, at the age of twenty-seven, he was named principal of Meriden's Hanover School, making him the youngest principal in the state. Early life and education Cardona was born on July 11, 1975, in Meriden, Connecticut, to Puerto Rican parents. Cardona grew up speaking Spanish as his first language and started to learn English when entering kindergarten. His father is a retired police officer in Meriden. Cardona was raised in a housing project in Meriden and graduated from the H.C. Wilcox Technical High School, where he was a part of the automotive studies program. Cardona earned a bachelor of science degree in education from Central Connecticut State University in 1997. He obtained a master of science in bilingual and bicultural education at University of Connecticut (UConn) in 2001. In 2004, he completed a professional sixth year certification at UConn where he earned a doctor of education in 2011.