Linda McMahon, former executive of World Wrestling Entertainment, has been nominated by the incoming president to lead the federal Department of Education. A longtime friend of Trump’s, she has ascended the ranks by shamelessly stroking The Donald’s enormous ego. Trump even appeared in his own storylines on Wrestlemania and has been inducted into the WWE hall of fame.
McMahon served as Chief of the Small Business Administration during Trumps first term in office, before resigning from the role in 2019 to focus on her pal’s re-election campaign. In the 2024 election cycle, she contributed $20 million through the Make America Great Again Super PAC to support his bid to return to the White House.
McMahon’s only experience relevant to this role is a one-year stint on the Connecticut Board of Education. But this is no cause for concern for Trump and his team. McMahon’s primary task will not be to improve public education in the US—but to dismantle it.
Trump and other Republicans have sought to abolish the Department of Education since its establishment in 1980. A bill proposed by South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds this November, the “Returning Education to our States Act,” lays out a plan for redistributing the agency’s functions to state-based departments and granting lump sums of federal tax dollars to state governments.
McMahon chairs the America First Policy Institute, which has produced a blueprint for Trump’s administration similar to the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025.” The education reforms they propose include the rolling back of federal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs, reduced union influence in hiring and firing, and importantly, the institution of universal “school choice.” This deceptive name conceals what is essentially a massive injection of public funds into private hands.
“School Choice” programs offer vouchers to families regardless of household income, to be used for homeschooling programs and private and charter school tuition. The implementation of these programs nationwide would inevitably have an inflationary effect on tuition costs. Not to mention that the direction of tax dollars into private schooling would also mean further cuts to the already underfunded public education system.
Trump promised to drain the swamp in Washington, D.C. and to slash bureaucratic waste. Working-class Americans are right to be skeptical about the capitalist state’s handling of their children’s education. However, the privatization of this institution will not lead to better outcomes for students. These businesses are under no obligation to provide data on student performance, or to provide minimum education standards. The only certain outcome if the system shifts towards privatized education is bigger profits for these private companies.
McMahon and Trump will preside over a capitalist state in crisis, which is no longer capable of providing the level of public infrastructure it offered as a concession to American workers in the previous period. The only way to fight against the education austerity put forward by this regime is open class struggle, a workers’ government, and democratic public control over education.