The American Legislative Exchange Council hosted its annual meeting Wednesday, with Secretary of Education Linda McMahon as a guest speaker to discuss recent education initiatives.
ALEC is leading its 52nd annual meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, through Friday, with various state legislators and policy leaders.
In the opening session on Wednesday, ALEC CEO Lisa Nelson interviewed McMahon on what the Trump administration is focused on within education.
McMahon said the administration has so far allocated around $500 million for school choice, an initiative that gives parents the ability to decide what kind of education their children receive: public schools, charter schools, homeschooling, etc.
The secretary of education explained President Donald Trump wants all children to have access to quality education by ultimately giving it to the states, where education is closest to the child. She said states should be the ones enacting regulations.
“Let’s have parents be at the center of that because parents are with their children. They know what is best for their child, and they should have the choice to put their children in schools where they can flourish,” McMahon said. “No child should be a prisoner of a failing school.”
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday to allow Trump to move forward with dismantling the U.S. Department of Education with broad layoffs.
Since Trump came into office. he has been pushing to shut down the Department of Education.
“I would hope our legacy is that we left making things better and stronger,” McMahon said. “I want to leave best practices for the states … I think that is one of the most important things that we can do as we wind down the bureaucracy in Washington. We’re not winding down education, we are lifting education. But we have to cut out the bureaucracy and the red tape and all the costs that go along with that.”
Nelson added that the department is simply “repurposing all the good parts.”
McMahon explained, though, that not everyone has been happy with these decisions. Teachers’ unions have especially pushed back on these initiatives, claiming the Trump administration hates education.
She said the president of the National Education Association, Rebecca Pringle, went on a rant recently accusing Trump of fascism.
McMahon called Pringle out for simply not understanding fascism.
“Does she not understand, fascism is more control, more centralization, and here’s a president who is trying to distribute it out to make it so much better,” said McMahon.
Nelson said that as soon as Trump announced plans to dismantle the Department of Education, the administration had an emergency education task force meeting and passed a resolution in support of the department’s work.
On the topic of improving student loans, McMahon said she worked with the U.S. Department of Treasury to figure out how it could take that over.
“I think that is where it belongs,” McMahon said. “The Department of Education should not be a bank. It is not a bank. Let’s have a bank do it. Makes more sense to me.”
