Top Three Reasons Linda McMahon Should Not Be Secretary of Education

When President-elect Donald Trump named Linda McMahon as his nominee for Secretary of Education on Tuesday, the news did not sit well with the nation’s public-school educators. 

McMahon is not only unqualified to run the agency, she has spent years pushing policies that would defund and destroy public schools. If this description sounds familiar, it’s because McMahon is strikingly similar to Trump’s Secretary of Education in his first term, Betsy DeVos.

“By selecting Linda McMahon, Donald Trump is showing that he could not care less about our students’ futures,” said NEA President Becky Pringle. 

“Rather than working to strengthen public schools, expand learning opportunities for students, and support educators, McMahon’s only mission is to eliminate the Department of Education and take away taxpayer dollars from public schools, where 90% of students - and 95% of students with disabilities – learn, and give them to unaccountable and discriminatory private schools,” said Pringle.

It is critically important to have the right person running the U.S. Department of Education (ED), which plays an essential role in ensuring that all students have access to quality education. The agency coordinates federal funding to supplement the budgets of schools in lower-income communities and help states educate students with special needs.

In addition, ED enforces rules that protect the rights of students and educators in both preK-12 and higher education settings. 

If Linda McMahon is confirmed as Education secretary, all of those essential functions are at risk. Here’s why:

1. Linda McMahon is not qualified for the position. Like Betsy DeVos, McMahon has no significant background in public schools nor any understanding of what it takes to help every student thrive. She served one year on the Connecticut Board of Education after lying about having a degree in education. McMahon spent her career as CEO of WWE, an entertainment company that has been accused of shady business practices and the abusive treatment of employees.  
2. She has pledged to push an extremist agenda. McMahon co-founded the America First Policy Institute, an organization formed in 2021 specifically to promote former U.S. President Donald Trump's public policy agenda after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden. Her chief goal for education is to promote vouchers, which drain resources from public schools and send taxpayer money to unaccountable private schools that are permitted to discriminate against students and educators. The policies she promotes are aligned with Trump’s Project 2025 plan. 
3. She will be a rubber stamp for Donald Trump. McMahon is a billionaire who donated tens of millions of dollars to Trump’s campaigns over the years. If confirmed as Secretary of Education, McMahon will stand at the ready to carry out the things Trump campaigned on—including removing expanded Title IX protections put in place by the Biden administration, pushing voucher schemes, and even dismantling the federal Department of Education altogether.

NEA President Becky Pringle said parents and educators will not stand by as Trump and Betsy DeVos 2.0 “steal resources for our most vulnerable students, increase class sizes, cut job training programs, make higher education more expensive and out of reach for middle class families, take away special education services for disabled students, and put student civil rights protections at risk.”

Instead, they will work together to “reject the harmful, outlandish, and insulting policies being pushed by the Trump administration,” said Pringle. That begins with calling upon the Senate to reject the nomination of Linda McMahon as Secretary of Education.