Puerto Rico to receive nearly $4 billion in U.S. pandemic funds
Monday's announcement was made during Cardona's official three-day trip to Puerto Rico. It is the first for a Biden administration Cabinet member and also marks the first time the island has full access to those funds.
WATCH: Harris discusses child poverty and education with Secretary Miguel Cardona
The expansion of the child tax credit, along with other measures, will cut childhood poverty in half this year, according to an analysis done by the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University.
Biden’s Cabinet half-empty after slow start in confirmations
President Joe Biden's Cabinet is taking shape at the slowest pace of any in modern history, with fewer than a dozen nominees for top posts confirmed more than a month into his tenure.
WATCH: Senate confirms Cardona as Biden’s education secretary
He takes charge of the Education Department amid mounting tension between Americans who believe students can safely return to the classroom now, and others who say the risks are still too great.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee is expected to vote Feb. 11 on Miguel Cardona and Marty Walsh, Biden's nominations for education secretary and labor secretary, respectively.
If approved, Cardona would oversee an Education Department that employs thousands and has an annual budget of more than $60 billion. He would also oversee the agency’s $1.5 trillion student loan portfolio.
Addressing the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on education will be among some of the most urgent issues facing President-elect Joe Biden when he takes office.
President-elect Joe Biden has chosen Miguel Cardona, Connecticut's education chief and a champion of public schools, to serve as education secretary.
Miguel Cardona was appointed to the top education post in Connecticut just months before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in March. When schools moved to remote learning, he hurried to deliver more than 100,000 laptops to students.
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