This week, President-elect Joe Biden named his 20-person education transition team headed by California State Board of Education president Linda Darling-Hammond. Martha Kanter, who served as undersecretary of education in the Obama-Biden administration, talks with EdSource about Biden’s big ideas for education.
“Look for plans to increase Pell Grants and unprecedented attention to community colleges,” she said.
EdSource higher education reporter Ashley Smith highlights other likely priorities, including the renewal, by executive order of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). And Louis delves into how preschool and K-12 will benefit – assuming a potentially divided Congress goes along.
With Covid-19 infection rates soaring, three more counties were reclassified as “purple,” meaning schools can’t reopen for at least several weeks. Christopher Hoffman, superintendent of Elk Grove Unified, the state’s fifth largest district near Sacramento, talks about the impact of a further delay in going back to in-person instruction.
For background on this issue, check out the following:
- Community colleges find an advocate in future First Lady Jill Biden
- President-elect Joe Biden’s expansive education agenda expected to draw greater scrutiny
- Education transition team for Biden administration announced, with Linda Darling-Hammond as “lead”
- Rising Covid-19 rates halt school reopening plans in three California counties
- Education and the coronavirus crisis: What’s the latest?