Secretary of Education Linda McMahon defended a return of education funds to the states, arguing it would produce the best education “closest to the child.”
President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week in his latest attempt to dismantle the Education Department that was created by President Jimmy Carter 45 years ago. While its employees are laid off and the funds are transferred to states, the president made it clear that the department will still handle “pell grants, Title I funding, [and] resources for children with disabilities and special needs.”
The secretary pointed out on Fox News’s My View with Lara Trump Saturday that her department “does not educate one child. It does not establish curriculum at the local level. It does not hire or fire teachers or administrators.”
“So, what we really want to do is make sure that states have the ability with fewer strings, regulations, red tape, for governors, and parents, and teachers, and school administrators to be more creative,” McMahon said. “So the president wants to see that happen, and he believes that we’ll see our scores go up. Because he believes, as do I, that the best education is closest to the child. Let’s let our teachers teach. They know what’s best in the classroom.”
This comes as the Education Department has already lost staff and will continue to lay off more. Of its initial 4,133 staff, 259 accepted a deferred resignation package, 313 accepted a $25,000 separation payment, and 63 probationary employees were let go last month. In addition, 1,315 more people will soon be laid off, leaving a little more than half the original workforce at 2,183.
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McMahon graduated college with a certificate to teach French but did not work as a teacher as she was married to Vince McMahon, who took over his father’s Capitol Wrestling Corporation and turned it into the WWE. In the early 2000s, she was friends with then Gov. Jodi Rell, who encouraged her to run for Connecticut School Board, which she successfully did and served for a year. McMahon was also a member of Sacred Heart University’s board of trustees in the state.
The secretary encouraged others to run for their respective local education boards and attend the meetings.
