One Year Later, Secretary McMahon is Failing America’s Students, Families, and Educators
WASHINGTON – Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), House Committee on Education and Workforce, issued the following statement following the one-year anniversary of Linda McMahon’s tenure as the Secretary of Education.
“I remain deeply alarmed by the direction the Department of Education has taken in the one year that Linda McMahon has served as Secretary of Education.
“Over the last twelve months, Secretary McMahon has carried out President Trump’s orders to dismantle the Department of Education. She has overseen staffing reductions across key offices that are responsible for enforcing civil rights protections in our nation’s schools and providing support to states and districts that rely on federal partnership. In the last year, we have seen career experts who spent years working to ensure equal access to education sidelined or pushed out, and political priorities have taken center stage over evidence-based policy.
“The Department has also shifted its focus away from strengthening public education and toward expanding privatization schemes that divert federal resources from public schools. Programs that should help public schools address achievement gaps, teacher shortages, and students’ mental health are instead being overshadowed by proposals that move federal support toward private alternatives without the same accountability to taxpayers or students.
“Lastly, the Department has taken steps that make it harder, not easier, for students and families navigating higher education. From rolling back oversight of institutions that receive federal aid to creating uncertainty around student loan protections and borrower relief processes, the result has been sheer confusion and chaos for millions of Americans.
“Let me be clear: the federal role in education exists to expand opportunity, enforce civil rights law, and help level the playing field for students no matter their zip code. Over the past year, Secretary McMahon’s approach has too often moved us in the opposite direction—away from equity, away from accountability, and away from the investments our public schools urgently need.
“In the House, Committee Democrats will continue to use every tool available to ensure that the Department fulfills its mission. Our students deserve leadership that strengthens public education, protects civil rights, and invests in the future of this country—not an agenda that chips away at the foundation of public education piece by piece.”
To view the Committee Democrats’ “shadow hearing” on the dismantling of the Department of Education, click here.
To learn more about the Committee’s education oversight activities, click here.
To learn more about the Committee’s work in 2025, click here.
###
Press Contact
Democratic Press Office, 202-226-0853
Next Article Previous Article