As soon as the presidential election was called for former and future President Donald Trump, the betting market fired up with speculation on whom he would choose for key cabinet posts. Most of these top-level jobs change very little over time; the duties of the Secretary of Defense or Energy or Transportation remain largely consistent across administrations.
But Trump stated time and again on the campaign trail that Education Secretary’s role would change drastically and ultimately disappear. This made the job unlike any other, and thus, the future officeholder that much harder to predict. When Trump announced his choice of Linda McMahon, former Small Business Administrator, for the top spot, he set the stage for a positive final chapter in the history of the Department.
For years, the Left has propagated the myth that the Secretary of Education is America’s teacher-in-chief. But the Secretary of Education does not lead a classroom; he or she leads a 4,400-person Department. The skills needed to impart knowledge to students are very different from the skills needed to lead a cabinet agency. Still, the education establishment is complicated and bureaucratic, and someone who knows its ins and outs has an indispensable advantage in fixing a broken system.
Fortunately, McMahon has both education bona fides and major leadership roles on her resume. She has grown and led a billion-dollar company, stood up for Americans as the Small Business Administrator, sat on the Connecticut State Board of Education, and served as a university trustee.
McMahon also earned an education credential in college, which required a semester of student teaching. She has spent the past four years helping lead the charge for universal school choice, which is supported by 71 percent of Americans and which is now a reality in twelve states. McMahon has been a key part of this effort in her work at America First Policy Institute; her new job will give her the chance to expand on that success to the federal level.
This all ought to inspire confidence in parents and educators. It could, perhaps, assuage some critics. But the legacy media would very much like to ensure people never find out the depth of McMahon’s education background. CNN published a 544-word piece that neglected to mention her work on school choice, her time on the State Board, or her experience as a trustee.
The New York Times lamented that McMahon has “no teaching background or professional experience steering education policy,” except, of course, for her trusteeship and board service. The exception is so large, it disproves the media’s narrative, but that has not stopped them from running with it.
Attempts to minimize McMahon’s record are media partisanship run amok. McMahon’s most salient qualification, however, is her support for sending education dollars straight to the states and shuttering an outdated bureaucracy that has failed to improve American education. This will take an act of Congress, including 60 votes in the Senate, and garnering this kind of support will take time.
In the interim, the new Trump administration would do well by students and families to undo the recklessness of the outgoing administration. McMahon and her team should start with the Biden-Harris Title IX rule, which forces schools to allow boys in girls’ locker rooms and to punish teachers and students who choose not to comply with another person’s pronouns of choice. The rule is so plainly illegal, it has already been blocked in 26 states and a constellation of schools in the remaining 24, but the next Trump administration should retire the harmful rule for good.
McMahon could also eliminate the use of DEI in deciding how billions of dollars of grant funding are awarded each year. Returning merit and excellence to schools should start at the very top, and making grant awards entirely merit-based would be more than just good stewardship of taxpayer dollars — it would be a powerful signal that the equity agenda is a thing of the past.
Even simple, sound management practices would be a major change from the Department’s current modus operandi. The Department failed its third financial audit in a row this year, and it delayed the FAFSA for the second year running, causing more headaches for students, parents, and college leaders.
Opportunities abound for McMahon to restore sound management to the Department of Education, making an orderly shutdown possible. President Trump is betting on her to accomplish a historic transfer of power out of Washington, which has been a goal of Republicans since President Ronald Reagan. When the chips are down, parents and students will find he’s not bluffing — McMahon is the real deal.