Author: BelieveAgain
President-elect Donald Trump has announced plans to nominate former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon to serve as U.S. Secretary of Education.McMahon was the head of the Small Business Administration in Trump’s first term, later taking on roles in support of his political campaign, policy agenda, and presidential transition.If confirmed by the Senate, McMahon will be charged with leading an agency Trump has pledged to abolish—a goal that Republicans have tried and failed to achieve in the past.Trump said McMahon will be a good choice to dramatically downsize the federal role in education. Critics of the pick, including Senate Democrats…
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up a major case about the constitutionality of the funding mechanism for the Universal Service Fund, which distributes some $4 billion annually under the E-rate program for connecting schools and libraries to the internet.The justices on Nov. 22 granted appeals by the Federal Communications Commission and the Schools, Health, and Libraries Broadband Coalition of a federal appeals court ruling that struck down the funding mechanism as a “misbegotten” and unconstitutional tax on consumers.Under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, telephone and cable companies make required contributions to the Universal Service Fund, which through…
Pennsylvania’s state education department will no longer require school districts to follow its initial guidelines that sought to confront racial and cultural biases in education and better prepare teachers to support students of color. The change comes after a conservative group challenged the guidelines in court, and it reached a settlement with the state agency on Nov. 13.The lawsuit, filed by the Thomas More Society, a nonprofit conservative law firm based in Chicago, on behalf of school districts and families, took issue with the education department’s 2022 guidelines. They were implemented for the ongoing education of teachers—in educator preparation, during…
Last May, soon after the Biden administration announced its final Title IX regulation that for the first time said gender identity is covered by the law’s sex discrimination protections, former President Donald Trump vowed to nix it if he won re-election.“We’re gonna end it on Day 1,” Trump told a conservative talk radio host in Philadelphia. “It’ll be terminated.”In that same interview, Trump referred to documents that President Joe Biden had signed early in his administration to offer some protections to LGBTQ+ students and workers, saying, “That came down as an executive order. And we’re gonna change it—on Day 1…
Linda McMahon’s rise to the nation’s top education job is set to come as the political stars align for some of the incoming president’s more ambitious education policy proposals: cuts to the federal education budget if not the elimination of the U.S. Department of Education, and a dramatic expansion of private school choice.That backdrop has advocates for low-income students and teachers concerned about her lack of experience in education. At the same time, supporters of McMahon point to her background running a multibillion-dollar business enterprise as an asset in steering a giant federal bureaucracy with a roughly $80 billion budget.McMahon,…
President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of Linda McMahon to serve as secretary of education comes after months of campaign promises to broaden families’ access to public money for private school tuition, increase parents’ control over schools, and abolish the U.S. Department of Education.McMahon, 76, is a wealthy businesswoman who founded and served as CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment. She beat out more public-facing, vocal advocates of Trump’s education causes who have garnered national headlines. But she’s proven herself to be an ideological ally of Trump’s, who has steadfastly supported him since his first run for office in 2016, including as a…
Linda McMahon, the co-chair of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team who spent much of her career as a pro-wrestling executive, is the incoming president’s choice to serve as secretary of education, the transition team announced Tuesday.McMahon, 76, is a longtime friend and early supporter of Trump’s who served as head of the Small Business Administration during the Republican’s first term. She stepped down from the SBA in 2019 to lead the America First Action PAC in support of Trump’s reelection. She was reportedly in the running to serve as commerce secretary before Trump chose McMahon’s fellow transition co-chair, Howard Lutnick,…
If you or anyone you know is struggling with thoughts of self-harm or suicide, help is available. Call or text 988 to reach the confidential National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or check out these resources from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.An Oklahoma district’s “inconsistent” response to sexual-harassment reports—including in the case of a nonbinary teen who died by suicide after they said they were attacked in a school restroom and bullied for their appearance—was “deliberately indifferent to students’ civil rights,” the U.S. Department of Education’s office for civil rights found in an investigation it started last winter.The Feb. 8 death…
Oklahoma’s education superintendent has sent an email to public school superintendents requiring them to show students his video announcement of a new Department of Religious Freedom and Patriotism within the state Department of Education.Ryan Walters, a Republican, announced the new office on Wednesday and on Thursday sent the email to school superintendents statewide.“In one of the first steps of the newly created department, we are requiring all of Oklahoma schools to play the attached video to all kids that are enrolled,” according to the email.Districts were also told to send the video to all parents of students.In the video, Walters…
President-elect Donald Trump ran on a pledge to abolish the U.S. Department of Education. After his election victory, a flood of educators and activists have asked the same question: Can he really do that?The short answer: It’s possible, but he couldn’t do it alone. Members of Congress would have to approve a plan to reorganize federal agencies, and Trump would face a lot of hurdles in winning their support.And even if the agency closed, its responsibilities—like administering Title I funding, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and student loans—would be transferred to other federal agencies. Conservative pledges to shut down…