Focus on union leader as Biden searches for education secretary - The Washington Post

Focus on union leader as Biden searches for education secretary - The Washington Post

Focus on union leader as Biden searches for education secretary

At least a dozen names have been batted around as possible secretaries of education for President-elect Joe Biden, with no clear choice emerging. But one woman in particular is the subject of intense lobbying, both pro and con.

Lily Eskelsen García, who stepped down as president of the National Education Association in September, has been endorsed by groups including the influential Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which notes that she would be the first Latina to serve in the position.

But García also is facing attacks from advocates for children with disabilities as well as from supporters of education reform policies that were popular in the Obama administration but have fallen out of favor in the Democratic Party.

The jockeying comes as the Biden transition team works to settle on an education nominee who will satisfy teachers and their unions while not alienating Democrats in the reform camp.

“The challenge for the Biden administration will be to appoint a secretary who is supportive of teachers and their unions but not opposed to innovation and change,” said Pedro Noguera, the dean of the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California.

While public attention is fixed on García, several people familiar with the transition discussions say that she is not a front-runner and that there is no consensus internally about who should get the nod.

Several people said Biden would like to choose a woman of color, as he works to assemble a diverse Cabinet. And Biden, a union supporter, told teachers unions during the campaign that he would choose someone who has been an educator, raising expectations of K-12 teachers that he would choose  CONTINUE READING: Focus on union leader as Biden searches for education secretary - The Washington Post