Linda McMahon to Newsmax: School Control Best Left Up to States

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, who said earlier this week that she will lead a "final mission" to end the bloat at the department President Donald Trump has said he will close, told Newsmax on Friday that she agrees with him that control of schools is best left to the states.

"The president certainly believes, as do I, that the best education is closest to the kids with parental involvement, with teachers being able to be innovative in what they are doing and to take the bureaucracy out of education," McMahon, who was confirmed this week, told Newsmax's "Wake Up America."

"Let's get the money to the states," she added. "The Department of Education, through the federal government, provides about 8 to 10% of the budget for education in each state, but that money should be well spent by the states."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday denied reports that Trump has already drafted an executive order eliminating the Department of Education.

However, he has said for some time that he wants to end the department, which was formed in 1980, and on Thursday said that "we're starting the process" of allowing states to run schools.

"I'm not going to get ahead of the president," McMahon told Newsmax. "He'll be on his own timeline to do what he wants to do. But he made it crystal clear during his campaign that he does want to put education back to the states. I think there is a lot that the Department of Education can do to help get ready for that."

That means ensuring that states have the tools they need to succeed and sharing information about best practices, she added.

The Department of Education, after it was established, has spent "about $1 trillion on education," but scores have continued to drop in the nation's schools, said McMahon.

Even without the department remaining, funding will not be removed from states, as it was passed through congressional statutes, she said.

"But when teachers tell you and administrators tell you that of every dollar that comes in, they spend about $0.47 trying to comply with regulations, let's not have that," said McMahon. "Let's have the full dollar, or close to it, be spent on education in the states."

McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, also told Newsmax on Monday that she had wanted to be a teacher when she was younger and still thinks it is "one of the most noble professions that we have."

"We need to support our teachers, pay them well, but allow them to teach," she said. "Let them be innovative. They're in the classroom. They know what their students need. We can't direct it through bureaucracy. I think we've seen test scores decline because teachers haven't been able to teach."

She also discussed the efforts from the Department of Government Efficiency and said she's welcomed the DOGE team in to identify spending cuts, including dismissing employees.

"'We want the best employees,' I think the president said yesterday, and I heard him say it again today," said McMahon. "We want to keep all of the best employees, but for those who are not performing, we shouldn't have those. I mean, I would look at it the way I would any company in the private sector. Let's trim down. Let's make sure that the people who are there are the very best ones to do the job."

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