Sec. Cardona Promotes Rural Programs for Teacher Education

Zac Schultz:
Turning to education, another national figure was out campaigning in Wisconsin and other swing states this week as students stepped back into classrooms. U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona kicked off a back-to-school bus tour by stopping in Green Bay, Oneida, Milwaukee and Mazomanie, promoting investments in public education. At a stop in the Wisconsin Heights School District, Secretary Cardona chided private school voucher programs for siphoning money away from public schools. And he highlighted a program that mentors rural high school students who want to become teachers.

Miguel Cardona:
We know rural communities often are overlooked, and one of the things that we’re trying to do is combat that. We want to make sure that we’re recognizing that in rural communities there are unique challenges. So recruiting and retaining educators is an area that I wanted to learn more about and how they’re solving it. The GROW program that they have here where they put money together, districts come together to provide scholarships for high school students that want to become teachers so that they can come back into the community. That’s brilliant. So we sent a team here to really highlight it. I wanted to hear from educators and superintendents directly today. I did and that’s a perfect example of, you know, I don’t think for a second that in D.C. we have the answers. The answers lie here. So when I come to Wisconsin Heights and I listen, I find solutions to challenges that are being felt in other parts of the country. And then I say, “Hey, go talk to them over there in Wisconsin because they get it.” Public education is a great equalizer. I wouldn’t be standing as Secretary of Education if it weren’t for what the public schools offered me in my hometown. And they’re under attack in many places. Oftentimes, you know, public education dollars are being used to fund private schools and tuitions and vouchers for schools that take away from already cash strapped public schools. We have to do better. So what better way than to show up in schools and see the great things that are happening in your neighborhood public schools. And I love choice. I went — I had choice. When I was in high school, I didn’t go to my traditional high school. I chose to go to a technical school. So I’m a big fan of choice. What I’m not a fan of is taking public education dollars, which is already thin, and then paying private tuitions for that, in private schools that don’t accept all students or don’t have accountability measures. That’s unacceptable to me.