U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said Tuesday she supports ongoing national student testing and the role of the federal government in education research, but there are few details about the Trump administration threatening schools and universities across the country, including large-scale funding if there is no plan to eliminate diversity.
Since taking over in early March, the Ministry of Education’s workforce has been cut in half, almost eliminating the research sector and drastically reducing the civil rights sector. Functions including student loans and financial aid are expected to be transferred to other institutions.
In an interview lasting more than 30 minutes, education entrepreneur Phyllis Lockett asked McMahon at a featured ASU+GSV meeting at an Education and Technology Conference in San Diego. McMahon defended the positive action to defeat the department, saying that despite the huge amounts of spending, the U.S. public school system continues to decline.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon speaks at the ASU+GSV summit in San Diego.
(Sandy Huffaker/Times)
“We’re just getting to the point where we can’t keep doing what we’re doing,” McMahon said, who became a professional business entrepreneur and served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year. “Let's shake it. Let's do something different. It's not the bureaucracy in Washington. It's not where it happens.”
She said that with the Ministry of Education drastically reducing, more money will be available to the country. But when Lockett asked her what guardrails would be formulated to ensure that money was properly effective, McMahon did not provide a direct answer because the federal government’s historical role in education was to address inequality and help students with special needs.
Dei must be eliminated
McMahon did not disclose how educational institutions should promote diversity when it comes to women or people of color. The department is putting pressure on all educational entities to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, namely DEI.
“We know there is a persistent achievement gap between black and brown and low-income students,” Lockett said. “So, there are a lot of resources.
In response, McMahon focused on opposing discrimination against anyone in any form.
“I think discrimination is a bad thing,” McMahon said. “We shouldn't discriminate anywhere. … We don't deprive anyone of the right to enjoy the rights of others.”
McMahon also did not directly answer questions about the department’s letter last week and ordered school districts and states to prove they have moved away from all diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The government describes these plans as discrimination based on race.
The letter said schools that continue this practice would violate federal civil rights laws and could face termination of federal grants and contracts. The letter was initially given to the state for 10 days to submit certification. According to the Associated Press, the education department has extended the deadline to April 24.
State leaders in Minnesota and New York states said they would not comply with the education department’s order that requires the collection of signatures from local school systems. California education officials said they could violate the order, saying they had regularly proved themselves compliant with federal law.
On another topic in the interview, McMahon promised ongoing support for historical black colleges and universities (often referred to as HBCUS), noting that these schools are not limited to their enrollment.
She also targets President Trump’s critics.
“I heard negative comments about knocking down the Ministry of Education, but the words used were, ‘The President wants to get rid of education.’ I mean, I don’t think he would be willing to receive a good education.
Support national testing
McMahon said she supports the National Education Progress Assessment, the NAEP (also known as the U.S. transcript), which tests samples of fourth and eighth grade students from all over the country. These tests are generally considered the best yardage for measuring academic achievement across state boundaries, as the test plans adopted by each state can vary greatly.
In late February, the Trump administration placed Peggy Carr, the head of the NAEP program, and the agency's professional employees on leave without explanation. The government has also canceled long-term trend tests for 17-year-olds. According to a report by Hechinger, the department’s research department, the Institute of Educational Sciences or IES staff have been laid off from more than 175 staff members.
IES was founded in 2002 during the administration of Republican President George W. Bush to fund innovation and identify effective teaching practices. Its largest department is a statistical agency dating back to 1867.
Hechinger reported that most of the department's research and data collection was conducted by external contractors, with nearly 90 contracts cancelled.
“How will you help use data in a transparent way to understand where we should invest in our resources?” Lockett asked McMahon.
McMahon suggested that the Institute for Educational Sciences needs to be reimagined and will benefit from the input of technical experts at the conference.
“I want to continue working with some technical consultants, and maybe some people in this room can really give us some good advice,” McMahon said. “As with any plan, the money continues to grow. I always call it a task crawl, but suddenly you look around, 'Why are we doing this? Why are we studying it, and we are ignoring that here?'''
McMahon continued: “There is a lot to watch with the IES,” she said, speaking about research and testing with Trump.
“I said, 'Look, that's what makes us honest because it compares apples to apples,” she said. “Especially for NAEP. … We're going to absolutely keep NAEP, yes.” She said she wanted to continue the national exam because “if we don't, states can… have some manipulation of their own results and their own tests.”
