President-elect Donald Trump has named Linda McMahon, who served as administrator of the Small Business Association for two years in his first administration, as his nominee for U.S. secretary of education.
In an announcement posted to Trump's social media platform Truth Social at close to 9 p.m. EST Tuesday, Trump said, "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's post also referred to his campaign promise to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education. "We will send Education BACK TO THE STATES, and Linda will spearhead that effort," his post said.
Who is Linda McMahon?
McMahon, a former president and CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, a company that develops and produces scripted wrestling events, currently serves as co-chair of the Trump-Vance transition team.
She is also board chair at America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump research nonprofit that supports free enterprise and nationalism. Trump praised her advocacy at AFPI for state-level universal school choice policies: "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."
According to EdChoice, a pro-school choice nonprofit organization, at least one form of private school choice is offered in 33 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. EdChoice said earlier this year that enrollment in private school choice programs exceeded 1 million students for the first time.
McMahon has served on the Connecticut State Board of Education and also as a trustee at Sacred Heart University, a private Catholic school in Fairfield, Connecticut. She is currently the treasurer on the university's Board of Trustees, according to the school's website.
In 2012, she won the Connecticut Republican primary for U.S. Senate but lost to current Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy.
If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, McMahon would succeed Miguel Cardona as the 13th U.S. education secretary since the department's founding in 1979.
What education stakeholders are saying
House Education and Workforce Committee Chair Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said in a statement that McMahon is a "fighter who will work tirelessly in service of the students – not the so-called elite institutions, or the teachers unions or the federal bureaucracy."
Jason Altmire, president and CEO of Career Education Colleges and Universities, which represents for-profit institutions, also lauded the selection in a statement Tuesday night.
“Under her leadership, we are confident that the new Department of Education will take a more reasoned and thoughtful approach in addressing many of the overreaching and punitive regulations put forth by the Biden administration, especially those targeting private career schools,” Altmire said.
Praise likewise came from Keri Rodrigues, president of the National Parents Union, an independent nonprofit organization representing families.
"We are optimistic that she will protect and defend our children from being caught in the political crossfire that has taken our focus away from the nation’s literacy crisis and slowed our ability to meaningfully address the challenges of learning loss in the wake of the pandemic," Rodrigues said in a statement.
Several education professional groups said they work with both Republican and Democratic presidential administrations and will reserve comments and reactions for formal proposals impacting K-12.
Still, others shared sharp criticism about McMahon's potential leadership as education secretary.
The National Education Association, the nation's largest teacher union, referred to McMahon as "Betsy DeVos 2.0," in reference to Trump's education secretary in his first presidential administration.
"By selecting Linda McMahon, Donald Trump is showing that he could not care less about our students’ futures," said NEA President Becky Pringle in a statement. "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."
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said the organization — while pleased that McMahon indicated interest in teaching early in her career and served on a state education board — has many questions about potential policies under her leadership.
In a statement, Weingarten said members of the nation’s second-largest teacher union are asking: “‘Who’s going to fund services for kids with special needs in Mississippi? What happens to poor kids in South Dakota, Montana and Alaska? How do we ensure there is funding to prepare students for career opportunities? For college?’”
“Will Linda McMahon support us as we teach students to read? Will she protect kids and families, so that everyone in a school feels welcome and can learn?”
Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., ranking member of the House Education and Workforce Committee, said in a statement that although McMahon does not have much experience working in education, he would withhold judgment until after the Senate vets her nomination.
However, he did speak out against Trump's push to close the Education Department. "If Ms. McMahon is indeed in support of this agenda and will work to actively dismantle the progress of the Biden-Harris Administration, I will not support her nomination," Scott said.
Scott added, “I will always work to find common ground when I can and advance policies that support America’s students. But I will never compromise on the fundamental principle that education is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.”
Kalman Hettleman, a member of Maryland's Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education and a former Baltimore City school board member, wrote in an email that the pick "could have been worse."
"All told, she is not as bad an insult to the nation as most of Trump’s other appointments to date. That said, the bar for Trump appointees is so low as to be below ground level," Hettleman said.
