Biden names profs, Clinton and Obama alumni, teachers’ union officials to Dept of Ed review team

Former Vice President Joe Biden named several professors and teachers’ union leaders to serve on the Department of Education agency review team, should he become president.

The agency review teams are “responsible for understanding the operations of each agency, ensuring a smooth transfer of power, and preparing for President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris and their cabinet to hit the ground running on Day One,” according to a press release from the Biden-Harris team.

The teams “have been crafted to ensure they not only reflect the values and priorities of the incoming administration, but reflect the diversity of perspectives crucial for addressing America’s most urgent and complex challenges.”

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Norma Cantu, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law, was an Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights in the Clinton Administration. She previously worked for the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, where she litigated cases related to “racially hostile environments.”

Paul Monteiro, the Chief of Staff and Assistant Vice President of External Affairs at Howard University, will also serve on the agency review board. He worked in the Washington, D.C. office of then-Sen. Barack Obama and later worked on the Obama-Biden campaign team. He was also the head of the Community Relations Service in former Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s Department of Justice.

Pedro Rivera, the president of Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology and the former

Pennsylvania Secretary of Education under Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf is also on the board. Before serving at the Pennsylvania Department of Education, he worked as an administrator for the School District of Philadelphia and as a staff member with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.

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Rivera is not the only official with teachers’ union ties to join the agency review board. 

Three individuals from the American Federation of Teachers — the nation’s second-largest teachers’ union — would also work with a potential Biden-Harris administration, should Trump not prevail in his legal challenges. Among these officials are Marla Ucelli-Kashyap, Assistant to the President for Educational Issues; Shital Shah, Manager of Philanthropic Engagement; and Beth Antunez, deputy director.

Campus Reform contacted Cantu, Monteiro, Rivera, and the AFT for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @BenZeisloft