U.S. Sec. of Education Miguel Cardona touts student debt relief, HBCU funding during Atlanta visit

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona is in Atlanta Wednesday, meeting with the heads of several of the state's historically Black colleges and universities. He'll also be speaking with students who've recently benefited from debt relief from the Biden administration, and meeting with others to learn more about how to support women of color in higher education. Secretary Cardona spoke with GPB's Peter Biello.

Miguel Cardona: Thank you. Great to be here.

Peter Biello: So let's talk a little bit first about what brought you to Atlanta here today. The Biden administration in May announced $16 billion in funding for HBCUs. So a two part question for you: What's this money going to pay for? And ultimately, is it enough?

Miguel Cardona: Let me start with the second part. You know, for decades, HBCUs have been underfunded. We are working to not only, at the federal level, make sure that we're providing a level playing field for infrastructure work, for example, but we're also communicating with governors about the obligation under the Morrill Act, for example, of funding HBCUs adequately. So that's something that we're bringing attention to. An example of what we're trying to make sure that HBCUs have access to is funding for infrastructure, which is what we're visiting today. We're going to be visiting a science lab there that can help women at the college prepare for the careers in STEM that we know are going to be more prevalent given the Chips and Science Act [and] the energy provisions under the Inflation Reduction Act. So it's good to see, at Spelman [College], that they have programs that are going to prepare their students for these careers.

Peter Biello: So let's talk a little bit about the debt relief, because you'll be meeting with some beneficiaries of that policy. This is a major cornerstone of the Biden administration. But let's also talk about the other part of that, which is tuition. Tuition is high. And it rose here over the past year in Georgia. It's rising nationally. What can your department or the Biden administration do to work that side of the equation and keep tuition down?

Miguel Cardona: Yeah, that's a great question. And it's really important for me to share that debt relief, while it gets a lot of attention, is only a piece of the puzzle, right? The president asked me to work to make higher education more affordable and more accessible. Student debt relief is a part of that. We've also introduced the most affordable income-driven repayment plan, called the Safe Plan, that makes it less likely for borrowers to go into default. Now you bring up rising tuition and the cost. Well, in addition to increasing Pell Grants for students who have economic need, we're also introducing the gainful employment rules that require universities and institutions of higher education to communicate the return on investment. Basically, the debt-to-earnings ratio of the graduates of the school. So parents and students can make informed decisions on whether it's a value to go to this college. So we are taking steps to make sure that we're improving the value of college, providing more options for students — also, options that don't necessarily include a four-year degree, although we do see the benefits of four-year degrees and we want to make sure more students have access to that. We also know that students could be gainfully employed and doing exceptionally well through different pathway opportunities that we're also promoting in the Biden-Harris administration.

Peter Biello: There was one instance in Georgia where a teacher lost her job for having taught to her fifth graders a book about gender fluidity. Now this is part of the larger cultural issues in schools, not just in Georgia, but across the country. I don't need you to weigh in on that particular Georgia case, but generally speaking, what can your department do to ensure that — that teachers are teaching what they feel their students need without influence from politicians or activists?

Miguel Cardona: It's unfortunate that there's been so much more political interference in education, an area that was once not disturbed by the — by the partisanship. And unfortunately, in our country, we're seeing politics spill into the classroom. Look, we talk about a teacher shortage. In Georgia, for example, teachers start at a salary of $41,000. Look, if we're serious about investing in our students, we have to make sure public education thrives, that we respect educators like professionals, and that we give them the agency, the better working conditions, a competitive salary to have their students thrive and be successful. Now, I don't want to speak specifically on that case. And I do believe decisions have to be made locally. And quite frankly, I do believe that culture wars are being thrust into our schools to create division with a bigger goal by Republicans to destroy public education. I'm going to be very frank about that. And you could see in Project 2025, it's not even a rumor anymore. This is what they're trying to do. And what will end up happening is not only will the profession become less desirable, but public schools, you'll see a bigger gap between the private institutions and the public education that educates the large majority of students in this country.

Peter Biello: A gap in outcome, you mean?

Miguel Cardona: A gap in services, a gap in outcomes. You know, when you have a system that separates students based on wealth and ... who can push the hardest? You can have limited spaces for students in schools that are more privileged, and then the public schools are going to be less funded and they're going to have more need. So I see this as a catastrophe to public education, marginalizing students who already feel marginalized in their schools. So we have to really pay attention and make sure that we protect public education.

Peter Biello: You were a teacher decades ago. You were also an administrator at schools in Connecticut.

Miguel Cardona: I was.

Peter Biello: What would you want to hear from someone in your position if you were a teacher? You've occupied that perspective. What would you want to hear, given the current climate for teachers now?

Miguel Cardona: Once a teacher, always a teacher. I taught fourth grade. I was a school principal for 10 years. They need us now more than ever. Our kids, our communities, our families need us now more than ever. We have to protect public education, ensuring that all students feel welcome in our schools, even if some states have laws against students that are maybe gay, or come from a different background. We see DEI [programs] under attack everywhere. So they need us now more than ever. And that in the Biden-Harris administration, we're fighting like hell to respect the profession. Whatever we can do at the federal level, we're going to do.

Peter Biello: You mentioned Project 2025. So I wanted to ask you about conservative goals more broadly to eliminate your department. What, in your view, would that mean on the ground for people in Georgia? In other words, what would Georgians notice about their public schools if that were to come to pass?

Miguel Cardona: Yeah, this was the plan before with Betsy DeVos. We came in and we interrupted that. So make no mistake, this was the plan from before. What parents will see is less special education services, less reading support for students that receive Title I supports — or schools that receive Title I supports. You'll see tuition money being taken from the public school accounts, and many of our schools already are underfunded and they don't have the resources, so we will see less. So when those teachers start at $41,000 a year, it could be that you don't have enough teachers and you'll have more substitute teachers in your schools. So you have students who are maybe not reading at grade level, because I'm looking at the Georgia data and they're — they're about 29th in the country, 30th in the country in terms of some of the reading achievement. You need more, not less. Privatizing these dollars would make it a competitive thing. And do you think these private institutions that are getting tuition money with these vouchers, do you think they're going to want to invest in students that are more expensive to educate because they may have a reading disability or they have a disability that costs more to have more staffing? Or do you think those institutions would rather those students stay in the public schools? We're creating a system of haves and have nots. Public education is under attack, and we're going to fight like hell to make sure that we're protecting this institution that allowed me, a kid — a first generation kid — in a high-poverty district, now serving as Secretary of Education, advising the president of the United States. That's the power of public education. It's under attack. We need to stand up.