精东影业

The Biden-Harris administration has named two 精东影业 alumni, Jessica Cardichon and Ramin Taheri, to positions in the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE).

Cardichon (Ed.D. 鈥�03, M.A. 鈥�99) will serve the Department as Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development. Cardichon received both of her TC degrees in Politics & Education and is a past member of the College鈥檚 Alumni Council. She earned her J.D. from Elizabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University.

Cardichon most recently directed the Washington D.C. office and federal policy arm of the . Earlier in her career, she was a teacher in New York City for seven years and then worked at TC as a program manager for implementation of early career educator induction programs. She was also an education counsel to U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and Senior Director for Federal Policy and Advocacy at the .

Cardichon has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University.

In for the Learning Policy Institute鈥檚 鈥淟earning in the Time of COVID-19鈥� blog series, published in late December, Cardichon and co-authors wrote that the new bipartisan federal rescue package 鈥減rovides much-needed relief鈥� but is 鈥渙ver $100 billion short of what our public school systems would need to support students through the pandemic and address the ongoing impact of their disrupted learning.鈥� 

And in  a May 2019 article on the Institute鈥檚 site, Cardichon and former TC faculty member Linda Darling-Hammond wrote that 鈥渮ero-tolerance鈥� school discipline policies, such as suspensions and expulsions for nonviolent and subjective offenses, 鈥渙ften result in negative consequences for student academic achievement, attainment, and welfare.鈥�

鈥淒ata from the U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 Office of Civil Rights Data Collection demonstrate that students of color and students with disabilities, among other historically underserved students, are disproportionately suspended and expelled compared with their White and nondisabled peers,鈥� Cardichon and Darling-Hammond wrote.

Taheri (M.A. 鈥�01) has been named Chief of Staff for USDOE鈥檚 Office of Civil Rights, where he was a senior attorney between 2010 and 2014. Taheri earned his TC degree in Developmental Psychology. He also holds a law degree from Boston University Law School.

Taheri most recently led the Washington, D.C., chapter of  and was previously General Counsel and Director of Advocacy at , a nonprofit education advocacy organization whose members lead district and state education systems. Taheri has also served as a special assistant to the Deputy Mayor for Education in Washington, D.C., and as a senior policy advisor in the USDOE鈥檚 Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development.

This past September, Taheri published an opinion piece in The 74 headlined

鈥淭he power of public school choice lies in its ability to detach a child鈥檚 destiny from his or her residential address,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淭o truly harness that power, however, we must prioritize those students and families who have too often been overlooked or underserved. Increasing diversity and providing more equitable access to highly rated, in-demand schools are achievable goals, but only if we affirmatively decide to pursue them.鈥�