In the past few weeks, President-elect Donald Trump has made several appointments to his administration, including education secretary nominee Linda McMahon, co-founder and former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment. Here’s a little bit about her and what the future may hold for K12 education.
Note: This story will be updated as more news surfaces regarding Trump’s plans for education.
Trump’s K12 education plan
In our past conversations with experts, many have told us that Trump is not overly focused on K12 education. Arman Jaffer, a policy aide to the chief technology officer during the Trump Administration, argues the Trump administration will not spend much political capital making structural changes to the national education system.
“I expect the new administration to explore how technology and alternative school models can be used to achieve improved student performance,” says Jaffer, CEO and founder of Brisk Teaching, an AI teaching platform. “In a nod to some of the persistent cultural clashes happening at school boards across the country, we can also expect the new Republican administration to advocate for more local control and parent involvement in curriculum.”
One policy in particular continues to make media headlines, and that’s Trump’s proposal to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, which would transfer more power to the states, parents and local governments, according to the Project 2025 website.
Several presidents in the past have tried to limit the department’s power, including our 40th president, Ronald Reagan, who also argued that education should be managed at the state and local levels.
Basil Smikle, professor and director of the M.S. in Nonprofit Management Program at Columbia University School of Professional Studies, says that dismantling the department altogether is arguably the most impactful policy Trump has outlined for K12.
“Conservative and Democratic lawmakers alike are in districts that get substantial funding, particularly in red states and rural communities where many schools benefit from Title I funds,” Smikle says.
Obviously, no Republican president has successfully closed the department because of the difficulty of eliminating all the programs that the DOE supports. The more likely scenario, Smikle explains, is a scaling down of equity and civil rights offices that will impact everything from school discipline to graduation rates and curriculum.
Additionally, Trump may use the agency to push for more school choice options in the form of education tax credits, charter schools and voucher programs.
“Since many of these programs and indeed much education policy is determined at the state level, he’ll need to rely on a carrot and stick approach—support states when they comply with federal programs, i.e., Race to the Top, or withhold funding for states that reject his proposals,” Smikle says.
As far as curriculum goes, Smikle says leaders should expect more local battles over content. Constituencies supportive of Trump’s platform may also assert more power over school- and district-level decisions “now that they have an ally in the White House.”
About Linda McMahon
McMahon has an extensive resume ranging from experience in business and politics. Her relationship with Trump dates back to the mid-2000s when he appeared at Wrestlemania in 2007.
Her political journey began in 2010 after she stepped down from her leadership role in the WWE to run for a U.S. Senate seat in Connecticut. She lost both times she ran, to Richard Blumenthal in her first campaign and to Chris Murphy in 2012.
She also has been a prominent supporter of Trump’s presidential campaigns. McMahon gave six million dollars to Trump after he earned the presidential nomination in 2016, the Associated Press reported.
One month into his previous presidency, Trump appointed McMahon to lead the Small Business Administration, where she provided entrepreneurs with capital to support their businesses and federal contracting opportunities. The agency also distributed financial assistance following declared disasters.
However, her nomination has already met with some controversy. According to The Hill, McMahon has been accused of negligence regarding a sexual abuse case while she was with the WWE.
The lawsuit, which was filed in October, accuses her and her husband, Vince McMahon, of knowing about a ringside announcer who allegedly abused young boys for years but refused to do anything about it. The plaintiffs, who remain unnamed, said announcer Mel Phillips, who died in 2012, sexually assaulted them when they served as “ring boys” in the 1980s. They were responsible for running errands and setting up venues for fights.
“Thanks to the bravery of our clients, we finally have a chance to hold accountable those who allowed and enabled the open, rampant sexual abuse of these young boys,” Gren Gutzler, a partner at DiCello Levitt, who is leading the litigation, said in a public statement.
McMahon has since denied the allegations and plans to fight against the suit.
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