Education is rife with racial and gender inequities, and the intersection of those two can often feel overwhelming. However, we sometimes get some news that seems uncharacteristically positive. This week, we got some of those headlines. Secretary of Education Cardona is about to have a busy month—he will begin rollbacks of DeVos policies and institute more protections for lots of students. This week, we break down a few components of the Cardona agenda: good, questionable, and unclear.

Good news

The Biden administration and Secretary Cardona have clearly and vehemently discussed their desire to roll back former Secretary DeVos’s changes to Title IX policy, which we wrote about last year. Specifically, the current administration hopes to bolster protections for victims and survivors of sexual assault at schools and colleges nationwide. This is good news because DeVos’ changes had actually increased protections for those accused of sexual assault, who are already very unlikely to face any legal and institutional consequences. If those changes are reversed, victims are likely to have a much better chance at fair and just processes.

Wait and see

Further, Secretary Cardona will participate in a series of hearings in late June in order to inform the administration’s perspective on the federal civil rights of transgender students in school. A number of states have passed or attempted to pass bills that restrict the rights of trans students and curtailed their ability to participate in extracurricular activities. Cardona and his colleagues have suggested that they want to learn more about the Title IX prohibitions on discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. While the administration has been less clear about its goals and positions on issues of trans students’ human rights in schools, we are hopeful that the hearings this month will be the start of a progressive education agenda.

Needs more clarity

There has also been some conversation in the Biden administration about addressing racial and gender inequities in higher education. Gaps in college completion and loan use by race, gender, and income are well-established but the administration has so far been pretty vague about its plans to either study the problem or address the known gaps. Moreover, while issues of Title IX and transgender students have been mapped onto a calendar of lawmaking hearings in the next month, there is not yet a calendar of similar hearings to address these noted inequities in higher education.

On balance, we are encouraged by Secretary Cardona’s agenda. However, we are also committed to ongoing engagement with our local and federal representatives in order to ensure that not only are education policies restored to their pre-DeVos state, but they continue to become more inclusive and equity-focused.