Former Education Secretaries Discuss Federal Policy
Miguel Cardona and Margaret Spellings spoke at a Dartmouth Political Union event regarding the future of national education.
Updated on Oct. 23, 2026 in Administration
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Former education secretaries Miguel Cardona and Margaret Spellings held a discussion at Dartmouth College on October 19, 2026. The conversation touched upon the evolving landscape of federal education policy following recent structural changes.
Why it matters
The discussion highlighted ongoing tensions regarding the role of the federal government in schooling. It examined shifts such as the implementation of school vouchers and the status of the U.S. Department of Education.
Approximately 50 students attended the conversation out of 150 total registrants. The event occurred at the Cook Auditorium in the Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society.
The players
Miguel Cardona
He served as the United States Secretary of Education from 2021 until 2025.
Margaret Spellings
She served as the United States Secretary of Education under the George W. Bush administration.
Linda McMahon
She serves as the Secretary of Education tasked with facilitating the closure of the department.
The details
Miguel Cardona and Margaret Spellings analyzed federal strategies during their appearance at the Dartmouth Political Union. Topics included the Trump administration's July 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which introduced school vouchers, and the executive order to close the U.S. Department of Education.
Timeline
March 2025: Executive order issued to close the Department of Education.
July 2025: The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is signed into law.
October 19, 2026: Former education secretaries discuss policy at Dartmouth.
Culture Shift
The discussion reflects a significant pivot away from decades of centralized federal education oversight toward a decentralized model. This trajectory challenges the legacy of previous legislative frameworks by prioritizing voucher-based systems and department dissolution.
Readers should monitor how these federal policy shifts translate into new voucher availability and school funding structures within their own states. These changes directly affect how families access private education options and state-level resource allocation.
The takeaway
The dialogue underscores the fragility of cabinet-level institutions in the face of shifting executive priorities. Readers interested in education policy should track state-level implementation of vouchers to understand how the loss of federal oversight impacts local classroom resources.
Further reading
Learn more about federal agency oversight in the Administration section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Dartmouth.
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