U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has tried to balance optimism around safe, in-person learning with political pugilism aimed at officials who are making it hard for schools to require masks.

Transcript

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

The U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona has been pushing hard for schools to reopen and stay open, but safely. In some cases, that's meant him fighting politicians who have tried to block schools from requiring children to wear masks. With COVID-19 cases skyrocketing among kids, Cardona took his safe reopening message on the road this week. NPR's Cory Turner was there and has this story.

MIGUEL CARDONA: Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #1: Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #2: Good morning.

CARDONA: I heard - I don't know if it's true. I don't know if it's true, but I heard this is the smartest first-grade class in the whole state. Is that true?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #3: Yeah.

CARDONA: Is it?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #3: Yeah.

CARDONA: Let me see. Raise your hand...

CORY TURNER, BYLINE: There's something strange about watching a cabinet official in a crisp blue suit, followed by an entourage of cameras and security guards, make his way through a bustling school. The school is Locust Lane Elementary in Eau Claire, Wis. The cabinet official is, of course, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. After popping into Miss Gallaher's first grade class, Cardona, himself a former teacher, visits Mr. P's fourth grade class in the middle of math to hand out gold foil-wrapped chocolate coins.

CARDONA: And I don't know if we have enough, so if not, you're going to have to learn fractions by the end of the day today, too. Oh, no, we have plenty.

TURNER: Next up, an outdoor pep rally in the parking lot.

CARDONA: When I say, are we going to have a great year, you're going to say...

UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Yes.

CARDONA: Are you ready?

TURNER: There was even a high school marching band with Cardona playing the cowbell.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

TURNER: But just under the surface of all of this fun is the very serious undertow of delta. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 226,000 children tested positive for COVID last week. That's the third highest number of child cases in a week since the pandemic began. And this is when a very different education secretary emerges, one who is frustrated.

CARDONA: The reality is we still have folks that are making decisions that are not protecting children, so I'm honored to stand up for those children.

TURNER: Cardona has been pushing back hard against states that have blocked schools from requiring masks and where vaccination rates are still low.

CARDONA: Sadly, you can look at the data. In those places that are more relaxed about it, their emergency rooms are filled up. Their pediatric ICUs are filled up, which is different than in other places like where we were this morning. Kids are happy. We're not talking about interrupted learning. We can joke around about what's for lunch.

TURNER: It's worth noting, learning has been interrupted, even at Locust Lane. When I first walked into the school that morning, I heard a staff member on the phone with a parent explaining the district's quarantine policy. In spite of the school's mask mandate, a few dozen students are currently quarantining. Still, this bus tour gives Cardona a chance to be an evangelist for masking and vaccination. And to politicians and parents who say those choices are deeply personal and should not be forced on anyone, the secretary has three words.

CARDONA: Schools are communities. And what an important lesson we need to teach our kids - my actions affect someone else. And unfortunately, it's not the kids that have a hard time with it. It's the adults. The kids are fine.

TURNER: And this balance or imbalance will likely define this school year. The day after his stop in Eau Claire, for example, the secretary visited Chicago, again talking up safety and trying to put anxious students at ease. There was another band and dancing. That same day, though, his department sent a warning to Texas, saying the agency is investigating whether the state's ban preventing schools from requiring masks violates students' civil rights.

Cory Turner, NPR News, Eau Claire, Wis.

(SOUNDBITE OF ALABAMA SHAKES SONG, "ALWAYS ALRIGHT") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.