Trump nominates former WWE head, private school voucher advocate for Education secretary

McMahon is relatively unknown in education circles, although she has expressed support for charter schools and private school vouchers. 

The president-elect has nominated former WWE chief executive Linda McMahon to serve as secretary of the Department of Education.

After two failed attempts at earning a US Senate seat in Connecticut, and providing $6 million to Trump’s 2016 campaign, McMahon was named leader of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term. 

McMahon also chaired America First Action, a super PAC that backed Trump’s reelection campaign in 2020. When Trump lost to President Joe Biden, McMahon helped start the America First Policy Institute in order to continue pushing for Trump’s agenda.

“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 wrote on Truth Social. 

McMahon is relatively unknown in education circles, although according to the Associated Press, she served on the Connecticut Board of Education for one year. She reportedly lied about having an education degree in a questionnaire for the role, however, and left that post a day before a newspaper was going to report on it.

McMahon also served on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University, a Catholic school in Connecticut.

As the president-elect alluded to in his announcement, however, she has expressed support for charter schools and private school vouchers. 

Voucher programs use tax dollars that would otherwise go to public schools to cover the cost of students’ tuition at private schools. Opponents argue that while private voucher schools use public tax dollars, they aren’t held to the same standardized testing or public meetings standards. Research has also found that charter schools often lack the regulation necessary to ensure they’re properly educating their students.

Charter and voucher programs are also not obligated to accept children with disabilities or who need special education, whereas public schools are required to educate all children.

If confirmed by the Senate following Trump’s inauguration, McMahon will perhaps be tasked with eliminating the agency she’s been hired to oversee, as Trump promised to close the Department of Education on the campaign trail frequently. 

In response, education advocates have railed against McMahon’s nomination. 

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

Pringle also noted the “stunning public rebuke” of school vouchers in states like Colorado, Kentucky, and Nevada in her statement as evidence of the public being against such programs. In those three states, voters rejected ballot measures that would have either instituted or expanded their respective state’s private school choice/voucher programs.

Pringle also compared McMahon to Trump’s education secretary during his first term, Betsy DeVos. Like McMahon, DeVos had virtually no experience in education and worked “to undermine and ultimately privatize public schools through vouchers,” according to Pringle.

“The Senate must stand up for our students and reject Donald Trump’s unqualified nominee, Linda McMahon,” Pringle added. “Our students and our nation deserve so much better than Betsy DeVos 2.0.”