After four years of dysfunction and chaos at the U.S. Depart­ment of Education, President Joe Biden has made it clear that he in­tends to turn the page, nominating a ca­reer educator to be the department’s secretary.

Biden has nominated Dr. Miguel Cardona, who cur­rently serves as Connecti­cut’s com­missioner of education, to lead the de­partment, signaling that he in­tends for the department to focus on policies that work for the nation’s stu­dents and educators.

“This is the kind of change we’ve needed for four years,” said PSEA President Rich Askey. “Betsy DeVos was a disaster for public education, be­cause she had absolutely no experience as an educator and had no respect for public schools. We’re very pleased that President Biden has nominated Dr. Car­dona – and that he intends to change all of that.”

NEA President Becky Pringle agreed.

“Secretary-designate Cardona is someone who respects educators as the professionals that they are, will listen to our experiences as the people who know the names of our students, and ensure that we have a voice in develop­ing and implementing education pol­icy,” Pringle said.

Biden emphasized that Cardona will work to ensure that “every student is equipped to thrive in the economy of the future, that every educator has the resources they need to do their jobs with dignity and success, and that every school is on track to reopen safely.”

“In Miguel Cardona, America will have an experienced and dedicated public school teacher lead­ing the way at the De­partment of Education,” Biden said in a state­ment.

Cardona was a fourth-grade teacher, elementary school principal, and assistant superin­tendent before he was appointed by Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont to serve as the state’s commissioner of educa­tion in August 2019.