Federal

Cardona Back-to-School Tour to Focus on Teacher Pipeline, Academic Recovery

By Libby Stanford — September 09, 2022 2 min read
Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona answers questions during an interview in his office in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, August 23, 2022.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

With students back in their classrooms, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona is back on the road.

Cardona kicks off his annual back-to-school tour on Monday, spending a week traveling in Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Throughout the tour, he’ll be joined by first lady Jill Biden, second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, Deputy Secretary of Education Cindy Marten, and Undersecretary of Education James Kvaal.

In a recent interview with Education Week, Cardona said he’s excited for students to get back into “the rituals of school” this year. There were an estimated 49.5 million enrolled in per-K through 12th grade public school as of fall 2021, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

“I’m really thrilled that students are feeling that back-to-school excitement the way it was before. It’s not back to school with a caveat,” Cardona said in the Aug. 23 interview. “It’s ‘I’m going to see my friends. We’re going to be able to do this. This trip is being planned. The clubs are up and running.’”

Over the last several administrations, the back-to-school tour has been a tradition for the country’s top education leader.

Last year, Cardona traveled throughout Illinois, Michigan, and Indiana in his “Return to School Roadtrip,” during which he celebrated school districts with students returning to in-person learning.

In 2019, former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos dedicated her tour to “education freedom,” an effort to support school choice and promote her proposed $5 billion Education Freedom Scholarship program that would have provided tax credits for scholarship contributions to private schools.

Former Education Secretary Arne Duncan used his back-to-school tour in 2015 to promote the Obama administration’s work in early-childhood education and higher education.

This year’s trip, which will take place Sept. 12-16, has been labeled the “Road to Success Back to School Bus Tour.” Cardona will be highlighting schools and communities that are recruiting qualified educators and building teacher pipelines.

Cardona will begin the tour in Knoxville, Tenn., where he will be joined by the first lady to discuss the teacher pipeline. They will then travel to Greensboro, N.C., to talk about the teacher pipeline and high school to career pathways.

Following Greensboro, Cardona will travel to Newport News, Richmond, and Harrisonburg, all in Virginia, where he’ll talk about academic recovery and the American Rescue Plan, Special Olympics and the inclusion of students with disabilities, and parent engagement for English-language learners and special education students.

The secretary will then head to Morgantown, W.Va., and Pittsburgh to discuss mental health in higher education and early-childhood education. After that, he’ll travel throughout Pennsylvania to Reading, Allentown, and Philadelphia, where he’ll discuss meeting students’ basic needs in higher education, community schools that provide wraparound services to students, and President Joe Biden’s debt forgiveness plan.

He’ll conclude the tour in Camden, N.J., where he’ll discuss the Education Department’s National Partnership for Student Success, an effort to bring in over 250,000 mentors and tutors to classrooms.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Professional Development Webinar
Inside PLCs: Proven Strategies from K-12 Leaders
Join an expert panel to explore strategies for building collaborative PLCs, overcoming common challenges, and using data effectively.
Content provided by Otus
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Science Webinar
Making Science Stick: The Engaging Power of Hands-On Learning
How can you make science class the highlight of your students’ day while
achieving learning outcomes? Find out in this session.
Content provided by LEGO Education
Teaching Profession Key Insights to Elevate and Inspire Today’s Teachers
Join this free half day virtual event to energize your teaching and cultivate a positive learning experience for students.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Federal Trump’s 4th Week: Musk’s Team Pushes Ed. Dept. Cuts as McMahon Faces Senators
Linda McMahon appeared before U.S. senators, answering for an already turbulent time at the Education Department before she's taken charge.
6 min read
A shouting protester is removed from the hearing room as Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Education, testifies during her Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing, at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, on Feb. 13, 2025. A shouting protester is removed from the hearing room as Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Education, testifies during her Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee confirmation hearing, at the U.S. Capitol, in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, February 13, 2025. (Graeme Sloan for Education Week)
A shouting protester is removed from the hearing room as Linda McMahon, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Education, testifies during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Feb. 13, 2025.
Graeme Sloan for Education Week
Federal Trump Picks Long-Serving State Chief With Bipartisan Fans for Top Ed. Dept. Role
Trump nominated North Dakota State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler to a key post overseeing K-12 policy at the U.S. Department of Education.
5 min read
North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction Kirsten Baesler announces the gathering of a task force to look into future options the state has for the assessment of students during a press conference May 8, 2015, at the state Capitol in Bismarck, N.D.
North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction Kirsten Baesler announces the gathering of a task force to look into future options the state has for the assessment of students during a press conference May 8, 2015, at the state Capitol in Bismarck, N.D. President Donald Trump has tapped Baesler to serve as assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education.
Mike McCleary/The Bismarck Tribune via AP
Federal Opinion Education Research Is in the Trump Administration's Cross Hairs
DOGE took a "chainsaw" to the Ed. Dept's grant programs. Morgan Polikoff has four suggestions for his research colleagues.
5 min read
Conceptual illustration of classroom conversations and fragmented education elements coming together to form a cohesive picture of a book of classroom knowledge.
Sonia Pulido for Education Week
Federal Vaccine Skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Is Sworn in as Trump’s Health Chief
Kennedy, who has called for public health agencies to focus on chronic diseases, was sworn in after a close Senate vote.
3 min read
Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch swears in Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services Secretary as Kennedy's wife Cheryl Hines holds the Bible in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, in Washington.
Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch swears in Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services Secretary as Kennedy's wife Cheryl Hines holds the Bible in the Oval Office at the White House, Feb. 13, 2025, in Washington.
Alex Brandon/AP