Photo Credit: Gade Skidmore (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Casey Harper | November 22, 2024
(The Center Square) — President-elect Donald Trump has named Linda McMahon to lead the U.S. Department of Education, and school choice advocates were quick to praise the pick.
McMahon, who served as administrator of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first administration, is a major backer of expanding school choice.
House Speaker Mike Johnson backed McMahon after news broke of her appointment and pointed out that McMahon is committed to “expanding school choice”
Notably, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., who sits on a key education committee, praised McMahon’s focus on “parental choice,” a good sign for her Senate confirmation.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee called McMahon “a proven leader who has delivered school choice for families across the nation” who will “empower parents with education freedom” and “send education back to the states so that every child can thrive.”
Trump echoed that plan to return education to the states in his announcement, a salient point since Trump has pledged to eliminate the Department of Education, though he would likely need Congressional approval to fully eliminate the department.
“As Secretary of Education, Linda will fight tirelessly to expand ‘Choice’ to every State in America, and empower parents to make the best Education decisions for their families,” Trump said in a statement.
McMahon’s nomination was heralded by school choice advocates. Corey DeAngelis, a self-proclaimed “school choice evangelist,” heralded McMahon for her support for “education freedom.”
Carrier Sheffield, senior policy analyst at Independent Women’s Voice, echoed that sentiment.
“Wishing you great results as you lead fights to expand school choice, stop partisan indoctrination & return education to the states!” she wrote on X.
Since leaving the Trump administration, Linda McMahon has worked on parental rights issues at the America First Policy Institute, a legal group and think tank for Trump loyalists. McMahon focused on expanding school choice during her time there.
“Linda will use her decades of Leadership experience, and deep understanding of both Education and Business, to empower the next Generation of American Students and Workers, and make America Number One in Education in the World,” Trump said in a statement. “We will send Education BACK TO THE STATES, and Linda will spearhead that effort.”
She and her husband, Vince Mcmahon, previously owned the WWE wrestling company.
McMahon has experience on the Connecticut State Boards of Education and served as a member of the Board of Trustees at Sacred Heart University.
Trump and his allies have promised to eliminate the Department of Education and return the issue to the states and thus eliminate the controversial federal DEI and LGBT policies pushed on schools from the federal government.
For example, the Biden administration threatened to remove school funding for districts that did not toe the line on transgender locker rooms and other LGBT issues.
McMahon is Trump’s latest in now daily picks to fill out his administration, though Senate confirmation is still needed.
This article was made available to EdNews Virginia via The Center Square, a project of the Franklin News Foundation.