Secretary Cardona’s Bus Tour Stops in Pittsburgh

On September 6, 2024, as part of U.S. Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona‘s bus tour advocating for public schools, he made stops in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, including one at Keystone Oaks High School that is starting an Educators Rising program this year. Present at the event was U.S. Representative Chris DeLuzio and Pennsylvania’s state secretary of education, Khalid Mumin. Introducing secretary Cardona at the event was Char’Tayvious Edwards, Educators Rising’s national vice-president of service.

According to a release from the United States Department of Education, “the 2024 bus tour will celebrate public education as the American system that opened the door for so many of our nation’s success stories: from astronauts to astrophysicists, writers to engineers, musicians to mathematicians, innovative entrepreneurs in the private sector to great leaders in the public sector.” The secretary’s visit to Keystone Oaks supports the department’s efforts to ensure that schools have the teachers in every school classroom needed to ensure the academic progress of every student in the country, including the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which has taken efforts to increase Grow Your Own efforts in the state.

The Educators Rising program currently has over twenty thousand students enrolled, nationwide, and thanks to grant from the National Education Association to the Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA), more schools have been able to establish chapters in the Commonwealth. Secretary Cardona shared in his remarks: “Teachers change lives, teachers save lives.” The program at Keystone Oaks is led by Emily Brill, who has sixteen years’ worth of experience at the school, and whom was excited to start their program.

Secretary Cardona’s tour ended in Pittsburgh today after a week-long journey.