With Education Secretary Cardona Confirmed, Time Is Now for Urgent Action on Civil Rights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Charmaine Riley, [email protected], 202.548.7166

WASHINGTON – Wade Henderson, interim president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement after the U.S. Senate confirmed Dr. Miguel Cardona as secretary of the Department of Education: 

“We are elated that Dr. Cardona will soon get to work advancing civil rights and equity at the Department of Education, and we can finally turn the page on Secretary DeVos’ agenda of discrimination and exclusion. As a civil rights agency, the department must immediately prioritize removing barriers to equal educational opportunity and ensuring students have the protections they deserve. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated long-standing educational inequities across lines of race, ethnicity, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), disability, home language, and family income. Students have waited long enough for change and need robust action from early childhood through postsecondary education to ensure equal educational opportunity.

“We look forward to working with Secretary Cardona to ensure the Education Department achieves its mission to advance public education and protect students’ civil rights.”

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and 109 organizations today sent a letter to senators supporting the confirmation of Dr. Miguel Cardona.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 220 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

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