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Now we just had another mass shooting just last week in Wisconsin at another school, uh, we just, it's been over a decade since what we saw happen at Sandy Hook. Comment on these and and what else can we do? I was a school principal when Sandy Hook happened and and I remember the, the fear and the frustration that I felt then and it's still there now. I visited Uvalde maybe 4 or 5 days after, uh, the massacre there and I. You know, one of these experiences that will stay with me the most is walking the hallways of Parkland High School, uh, Marjorie Stone and Douglas with the parents of the deceased before the school was even cleaned. Um, to experience the, the. The frustration, the, the sadness, it doesn't have to be this way. It doesn't have to be this way. I'm tired of hearing from folks who vote no on more gun safety provisions and common sense provisions of law. People that vote no talking about thoughts and prayers, everyone who voted no on on uh gun safety restrictions or background checks or red flag laws, those people should be going to those communities now listening to those parents um we need to do more. We need to do better as a country making sure students have access to higher education. Uh, we, we did our part by fixing a broken system, a system that hadn't been touched in 40 years. Now the whole, the whole country should be making sure that our students have access to not only FAFSA but access to higher education. Another thing we did to improve access. We're evolving our high schools to make sure that students have access to trades to different credential programs, so they don't need a 4 year program, right? So if we improve access to high skill, high paying careers, making 7000 to $80,000 a year without the need for 4 year colleges, that's gonna provide competition to colleges and they're gonna make sure that the return on investment is better. We've invested so much in that. I'm proud of that work as well. um, I was a first gen kid. I'm a first gen uh first generation college student, and for me. Higher education opened the doors for me. I went from, you know, a first gen kid who was a little bit nervous going on campus with the impostor syndrome to advising the president of the United States on education for 65 million students. That's because of public education because of higher education. I want everyone to have access to that, and they shouldn't have to take out loans for the rest of their life to do that. So I'm proud of what we've done and um I hope that it continues so that more students have access uh to chase their dreams. Now here in Connecticut Governor Lamont has talked about taking cell phones out of schools, uh, certainly seems like a good idea. Give me your thoughts on that and what else could be done. Sure. Well, look, you know, and I talked to, uh, Governor Lamont about that, and last week we put out last week or maybe a couple weeks ago we put out some guidance, um, for governors, for state leaders, for superintendents across the country. Uh, the guidance is really, you know, look. Cell phones are not going away, technology is not going away. Social media is not going away it's our responsibility as educators and as parents to make sure that our students know the the risks. Um, because there are risks, um, and with social media and with technology or or over reliance on it, there are risks, um, but we also have to know how to utilize it in order to enhance learning and to give students an opportunity to continue to succeed now as a former school principal, as a former, uh, district leader, I could tell you it becomes a distraction. In many ways, so there should be parameters there should be rules that everyone follows um as a former teacher, listen, the last thing I need is a student to be distracted by a phone while I'm trying to teach them something. So, uh, I applaud, uh, governor, um, for really taking a stand on this, and I applaud educators and parents for coming together and saying how do we do this sensibly, you know, because one size doesn't fit all the guidance that we provided at the federal Department of Education. Um, provides considerations that districts should think about how to engage parents because for me it's really important to engage parents and students in this process in order for it to stick. I mean, look, the importance of a great education is vital today. I mean, do you feel, talk about that and do you feel that more people are getting that? Well, what I'm proud to see is recent reports show that there's been a an increase in graduation rates in college, um. I still think our system is a system of have and have nots. I really do. I think we need to evolve a little bit more boldly in our K-12 systems to ensure that students have options when they graduate. And I, I, I really do believe that it's gonna require some innovation, um, some coordination between our K-12 system and our higher education system. Um, but I think it's possible. Look, we. snap of fingers went from fully in-person learning to online learning 4 years ago if we could do that. And during a pandemic without vaccines at the time without testing at the time, if we could do that there's nothing we cannot do if we put our heads together. I think the key thing is making sure that we work together to solve problems together and I do believe we can provide students with better opportunities for for college and career um we can get our students excited about learning again we can evolve our assessment system in this country that in my opinion is pretty antiquated. And doesn't serve students well and it's out of touch with how students learn. We can improve pedagogy to get students to do experiential based learning. We can promote multilingualism as a, a core requirement of our schools because we know students that know more than one language are more intelligent. They have more economic earning power. They're, they're, they're adding to the economic development of states. I'm excited about the future in education. I really am. And I know that when we put our heads together and we work together different perspectives red and blue doesn't matter we can keep our kids at the center and we can continue to improve education um so that that's where my optimism comes from because I know what we've been able to do together is just uh. Maybe like a teaser for what we can do in the future if we work together. So what's next for Secretary Cardona as he gets set to leave office in just a few weeks we'll delve into his future plans and what he'll remember most about his time leading the nation's education system. I've gone to different countries, talked to presidents for me, I feel happiest I feel most alive when I'm in those classrooms seeing the students succeed.

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If you would have asked me 5 years ago what's next for me, I would have given you an answer that included none of what happened. Uh, so I'm, I'm not, I'm humble enough to know that I'm not, it's not my plan, it's God's plan. You know, God's been good to me and I feel like, um, The right opportunity is gonna uh present itself and something that I'm passionate about. I always say my job will change, uh, but my work won't. I, I wanna serve children. I wanna serve our country. I wanna serve communities that have need uh I wanna work with educators and with community members and and leaders whether it's state, uh, local or national, um, or international to make sure that, um, we're continuing to move students forward uh for me that's been the inspiration. You know, I visited 49 states. I'm visiting my 50th soon in the new year, um, and you know I talked to governors. I talked to, I've gone to different countries, talked to presidents for me I feel happiest I feel most alive when I'm in those classrooms seeing the students succeed so uh where wherever the path takes me. I know that uh serving children and helping children reach their God-given potential is something that is core to me and it's something that I hope to continue doing in the future. I'm sure Connecticut would love to have you back in some capacity, that's for sure. Now, in a recent interview this week you did with your hometown paper, the American Record Journal, you did express how the. The travel is tough. I get it. Well, yeah, there's a lot of traveling. I, it's, it's good though. I mean, I, I, you won't hear a complaint out of me, um, but I've been blessed. I've been blessed to go to Zambia to talk to the president over there about democracy. I, I've gone to France, uh, to, to visit classrooms and see how they educate students there, um, you know, Italy for a summit over there around career pathways, um, so. I've been able to travel internationally, but I've also visited, as I said before, 49 states to see for me it's really important to listen on the ground to what uh the successes are but also what the challenges are so that I could make sure that those folks recognize that I see them too. A big thank you to Secretary Cardona for his time. I found him to be very passionate about education. Next week on Power and Politics, we'll look back on 2024 and the year that was. We'll look at the presidential election like no other as well, and we'll remember two political icons Connecticut lost this year former Senator Joe Lieberman and former governor Jody Rell, and we'll discuss a little bit about what we can expect to see in 2025. I'm Mark Sudall. Thanks for watching.

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On this week's Power & Politics, News 12 Connecticut's Mark Sudol speaks with with Miguel Cardona, the outgoing Education Secretary under President Joe Biden, at Israel Putnam Elementary School in Meriden, the school where Cardona began his teaching career.

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