US education secretary cites pandemic health impacts

SANTA FE – With schools around the nation returning to a new normal after two years of disruptions and distance learning, U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona got a first-hand glimpse Thursday of how some New Mexico schools are still dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic fallout.

The nation’s top education official talked with Santa Fe high school students about mental health issues, visited a dual-language classroom at Jemez Pueblo and talked with state and local school leaders.

At one point, Cardona even poked his head unannounced into a classroom of students at Santa Fe High School, prompting puzzled glances from some of the students inside.

“I heard from students the importance of emotional well-being,” Cardona later told reporters, adding a group of students he spoke with had identified the pandemic’s mental and emotional toll as being even greater than its impact on academic and social issues.

“That’s what schools do,” he said. “We heal together, we grow together, we learn together. So this was a great example of what I want to see across the country.”

Cardona said his trip to New Mexico marked the 32nd state he has visited since being appointed as President Joe Biden’s education secretary in January 2021.

He was joined on the Thursday visit by New Mexico’s two U.S. senators – both Democrats – as Sen. Ben Ray Luján accompanied Cardona during his visit to Santa Fe High School and Sen. Martin Heinrich joined him for a tour of Jemez Pueblo.

During the Santa Fe event that included Cardona and Luján visiting with students about pandemic-related challenges, Cardona touted funding in the $1.9 trillion America Rescue Plan Act aimed at tutoring, expanded summer school and student support programs.

New Mexico got about $1.8 billion under the 2021 law, while New Mexico-based tribes received an estimated $806 million to respond to the pandemic and help offset revenue losses.

Without the federal relief funds, some colleges would be closing and some academic support services would not be available, Cardona said.

“We have families that are in greater need than ever before,” he added.

He also lauded the school district for creating new support positions, instead of asking current staffers to do even more.

U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, left, meets Santa Fe High student Carissa Anaya, 16, and other students who work with the school’s food drive, on Thursday. Cardona and Sen. Ben Ray Luján were touring the school and talking to students. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
Meanwhile, Cardona also praised New Mexico’s recently-approved teacher salaries – minimum starting teacher pay will jump to $50,000 per year this fall under a bill signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham – and increased mental health support services.

But both he and Luján said there’s still work to be done to ensure such services are accessible to students.

“It’s OK to ask for help,” Luján said. “But we have to make it available and make it friendly.”

Other pandemic-related issues could take years to fully manifest.

While New Mexico received a federal waiver from statewide standardized testing last year, a legislative report found public school students lost the equivalent of between 10 and 60 days of instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response, state lawmakers this year are offering districts more funding to add additional days onto the school calendar, but school boards in Santa Fe and Albuquerque have already decided not to implement the extended learning program – or at least leave it up to individual schools to decide whether to participate.

Cardona began his career as a fourth-grade teacher before becoming a school principal and, some years later, Connecticut’s top eduction official.

In that job, he pushed for schools to reopen during the COVID-19 pandemic and, after being appointed as U.S. education secretary, was tasked by Biden with eliminating longstanding racial achievement gaps.

During his Thursday visit, Cardona said he was particularly impressed by a group of students who have organized a food drive to provide meals for fellow students or families dealing with food insecurity issues.

“It takes a village and right now this village is going to grow,” he said.

He also proved to be a quick study on New Mexico cuisine.

“How about green chile?” Cardona asked students who had bagged food donations ready to be distributed. “I heard that’s what you have to try while you’re here.”