Education Secretary Miguel Cardona doesn鈥檛 think it鈥檚 enough to pay teachers more. Teachers鈥� working conditions must improve, too.
The secretary said as much during a one-on-one conversation with 澳门跑狗论坛 following the conclusion of the International Summit of the Teaching Profession last week. The three-day event brought together education ministers and teachers鈥� union leaders from 22 countries to discuss strategies and actions each country can take to improve education.
Cardona made a point to highlight his agency鈥檚 collaboration with the nation鈥檚 two largest teachers鈥� unions at the summit, which the Education Department co-hosted. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers; Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association; and Carissa Moffat Miller, executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers, joined Cardona to represent the U.S. throughout the summit.
Cardona called their partnership 鈥渋ntentional collaboration,鈥� and said he believes their voices will help the Education Department improve conditions for teachers.
The summit, meanwhile, happened the same week Republican lawmakers brought Weingarten before a U.S. House subcommittee to answer to their accusations that her union improperly influenced the U.S. CDC鈥檚 pandemic reopening guidance for schools.
The U.S. delegates at the summit identified four commitments over the next year, including collaborating with unions to ensure student well-being and academic success, promoting schools as full-service community centers, strengthening support for educators, and modernizing education.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What would you like teachers to understand about what the Education Department does?
Teacher voice is alive and well at the Department of Education. That wasn鈥檛 always the case. That is the case while I鈥檓 secretary. Their perspective helps drive what our commitments are: to not only work on teacher salary but working conditions, making sure teachers have appropriate professional development on AI, making sure we鈥檙e supporting schools as the hub. These are all things that were influenced by AFT and NEA.
What we output is also informed. When we鈥檙e putting out grant applications for different things, for additional reading teachers, for additional mental health support, for additional support for schools as they develop pathways to careers for students, it鈥檚 all informed by our interactions with teachers and the voice of teachers. Like them, we鈥檙e fighting for equity. Like them, we鈥檙e trying to remove the nonsense and the politics out of education policy and focus on students. We鈥檙e keeping the needs of the students at the center of the conversation.
How do you define leading the world, and how far are we from achieving that?
Right now our country is in the middle when it comes to reading and math compared to other developed countries鈥攖hat鈥檚 unacceptable. We鈥檙e not leading the world there. We have major teacher shortages. We鈥檙e not like other countries in terms of showing respect for the profession, making sure it鈥檚 a competitive salary, providing pathways into the profession. We鈥檙e not leading the world there. We鈥檙e going to lead the world there.
When it comes to mental health, I want to make sure that our schools are looking at the holistic needs of our students. We have work to do there. We鈥檙e better than many other countries in that aspect.
The majority of the people in that room were multilingual, so we have work to do there. In terms of pathways, making sure our high schools are connected to industry partners or two-year colleges or four-year colleges, we鈥檙e making headway. I鈥檓 really excited about that work, but there are some countries where they鈥檝e been doing this for years. I want to lead the world on all those indicators.
What is a quality community school, and why should schools be working to replicate this model?
The schools that reopened safely the best were the ones that were more closely aligned to the principles of full-service community schools. There was trust. There were resources available for parents in whatever language they needed. There were mental health supports available to students. There was food where food insecurities existed in the community. There were liaisons whose job it was to connect to community partners to make sure the students in that school have what they need.
We know that model works. We saw it work during the pandemic. But we know when there is no pandemic that when the schools become the hub of the community, students are more likely to thrive, and families are more likely to be connected to the schools. Authentic parent engagement is more possible. It feels like a sense of community.
I鈥檒l tell you, when the pandemic hit and kids were separated from schools, kids weren鈥檛 upset because they missed their math class. They might鈥檝e missed their math teacher. They missed the sense of community that schools provide. Full-service community schools do just that, they build a family and a sense of community. That鈥檚 where children thrive.
You said it鈥檚 not enough to just give teachers a raise; working conditions have to improve, too. What are some concrete actions the Education Department can take to improve teacher working conditions?
You鈥檝e got to start with pay. Teachers make on average 20 to 30 percent less than other professions with similar degrees. That鈥檚 unacceptable. We鈥檝e got to not normalize teachers driving Uber on the weekends. We can鈥檛 have that. They鈥檙e professionals. Treat them like professionals.
Teachers, once they get into the parking lot, they鈥檙e on. They have students in front of them the whole day. Maybe they鈥檒l get half an hour for lunch where they have to make calls and hit the copy machine because it was too busy in the beginning. They have long days. So how do we build into the teacher day time for professional learning, time for reflection, and time to observe another teacher? That鈥檚 one thing.
Do we provide enough support and mentorship for teachers, teacher-to-teacher mentorship where they have time during their workday鈥攏ot on their personal time鈥攖o grow, to reflect, to observe another teacher? Do they have an opportunity to ask questions if they鈥檙e struggling with something?
And then a third thing, do they have access to professional learning around topics that are important to them?
Four, do the classroom teachers have enough student support staff around them? Are there paraeducators to support the students that need extra support? Do they have the right technology to make sure that they can keep up with the needs of the students? Are there enough social workers, psychologists, and school counselors available so that when students are struggling they have adequate support? Are there school nurses? Do they have administrative support and leaders that are well trained and well supported so they could provide support for educators? Do they have managers or instructional leaders? I would rather work in a school with an instructional leader.
What role do you see ChatGPT and other AI platforms playing in the classroom, and what can the Education Department do to regulate it?
My mentality is we have to get ahead of it to make sure we鈥檙e providing guidance on how we could enhance learning and create opportunities for critical thinking. Also, create what I call guardrails to make sure we鈥檙e protecting our students.
When the internet came out there were very few guardrails. There was too much exposure, and it was harder to unlearn some of the things that were happening. Similarly, on social media, there were too few guardrails. As a result, we believe social media has contributed to the youth mental health crisis. So let鈥檚 take lessons from that and say, technology is here. We need to embrace it. It could be amazing, but let鈥檚 make sure that we鈥檙e staying ahead of it.
What I鈥檓 proposing is to have a national group that we convene with perspectives of teachers, students, parents, educators, and some of our tech partners to collectively act upon our shared intent to protect children, but also provide tools and professional learning for teachers that is appropriate and adequate鈥攕o that a 3rd-grade teacher knows how to use it to enhance learning, so that a high school teacher knows how to use it to develop critical thinking skills.
How do you think Congress and the Education Department should approach social media鈥檚 impact on student mental health?
I do think regulatory safeguards are necessary. When the cars came鈥攖remendous advancement鈥攚e soon put on seatbelts and airbags. It evolved over time. But we didn鈥檛 say, we鈥檝e got to stop cars.
We can also work with our stakeholders and our companies to talk about reasonable uses of social media or guidance on how it could be used for good. We need to take lessons from what we鈥檝e done in the past and the impact on kids.
As a dad, I want to make sure that, if my child is on one of these apps, I know [how] they鈥檙e being targeted. Social media is a good thing. I think it allows students to engage with one another, but I think it鈥檚 the Joe Camel, [the decades-old cigarette mascot that appealed to children], of this generation if left unchecked.
