U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona gave a rosy outlook as he ended his national “Road to Success Back to School Bus Tour” in Camden on Friday. In a city still under state education control, at Camden High School Cardona saw how a partnership between the district and the National Partnership for Student Success, offers tutoring and mentorship — key elements in President Biden’s education agenda — to help students recover from pandemic-related learning loss.

“I’ve seen great examples of districts using money to create community-partner liasions, folks who work to bring in partners like 12+, to be mentors, to be tutors. I’ve seen districts create family liaisons. Families that, for whatever reason during the pandemic, were disengaged,” Cardona said.

But even with American Rescue Plan dollars in place, New Jersey students are behind. Close to 60% of students are behind in reading, and nearly 70% of students are behind in math. And students of color, like those in Camden, are affected the most.

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