Education Secretary Linda McMahon laid out the “final mission” for the Department of Education, initiating President Donald Trump’s goal to “send education back to the states” and shut down the federal agency.
In one of her first official acts as Education Secretary, immediately after her successful Monday confirmation vote in the Senate, McMahon sent a speech to department staff titled “Our Department’s Final Mission.” The speech detailed several benchmarks necessary to fulfilling the decades-long goal of conservatives to end the bureaucratic thwarting of the American education system.
“After President Trump’s inauguration last month, he steadily signed a slate of executive orders to keep his promises: combatting critical race theory, DEI, gender ideology, discrimination in admissions, promoting school choice for every child, and restoring patriotic education and civics,” McMahon said. “He has also been focused on eliminating waste, red tape, and harmful programs in the federal government. The Department of Education’s role in this new era of accountability is to restore the rightful role of state oversight in education and to end the overreach from Washington.”
“This restoration will profoundly impact staff, budgets, and agency operations here at the Department,” she added. “In coming months, we will partner with Congress and other federal agencies to determine the best path forward to fulfill the expectations of the President and the American people. We will eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy so that our colleges, K-12 schools, students, and teachers can innovate and thrive.”
The message comes before an anticipated executive order directing the department to move programs elsewhere in the government and review the laws needed to finally shut down the department.
McMahon said that the review of the department was “long overdue,” noting the over $1 trillion spent by taxpayers on a government agency that has overseen plummeting education outcomes for American students. She also noted massive student debt for obtaining degrees that are less and less valuable, anti-American indoctrination in schools, and teacher shortages due to bureaucratic “red tape.”
“Disruption leads to innovation and gets results. We must start thinking about our final mission at the department as an overhaul — a last chance to restore the culture of liberty and excellence that made American education great,” she said. “Changing the status quo can be daunting. But every staff member of this Department should be enthusiastic about any change that will benefit students. “
McMahon laid out three “convictions” that will guide the closure of the department: Parents should be “the primary decision makers in their children’s education”; “taxpayer-funded education should refocus” on educational pillars like math, reading, science, and history as opposed to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and gender ideology; and education beyond high school should revive its value by aligning degrees “with workforce needs.”
States, school systems, teachers, and families alike would benefit from being able to tailor education funds to their individual needs, as opposed to having objectives dictated by federal control, McMahon said.
The message from their new secretary comes days after a Friday email to department staffers gave them a one-time offer to buy them out of their positions at $25,000. The offer expired at 11:59 p.m. on Monday.
“This is a one time offer in advance of a very significant Reduction in Force for the US Department of Education,” Jacqueline Clay, chief human capital officer, said in the message.
It is unclear how many staffers took the offer.
“American education can be the greatest in the world. It ought not to be corrupted by political ideologies, special interests, and unjust discrimination. Parents, teachers, and students alike deserve better,” McMahon said in her message. “This is our opportunity to perform one final, unforgettable public service to future generations of students. I hope you will join me in ensuring that when our final mission is complete, we will all be able to say that we left American education freer, stronger, and with more hope for the future.”
