National Education Secretary Linda McMahon says public schools are failing.
In November, she promised a “hard reset” of the system in which more than 80 percent of American children learn. But rather than investing in public education, she worked to dismantle the Department of Education and enact sweeping changes to how public schools operate.
“Our ultimate mission as a department is to fully empower states to carry the torch of our educational renaissance,” she said at a press conference in November.
To help him achieve these and other goals, McMahon has tapped at least 20 advisers from ultraconservative think tanks and advocacy groups who share his skepticism about the value of public education and seek sweeping changes, including the inculcation of Christian values in public schools.
ProPublica journalists Jennifer Smith Richards and Megan O’Matz spent months reporting and reviewing dozens of hours of video to understand the ideals and ambitions of those who pull the levers of power in federal education policy. They found a concerted initiative to shrink public school systems directing taxpayer dollars to private, religious and charter schools, as well as options like homeschooling. The Department of Education did not respond to a detailed list of questions from ProPublica.
They also found top officials expressing a vision for the remaining public schools that rejects the separation of church and state and promotes a pro-American view of history, a “pro-American view of history.”edifying representation of the founding ideals of the nation.” Critics argue that “patriotic” programs downplay the legacy of slavery and paper in favor of episodes of discrimination.
Since its creation in 1979, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has enforced anti-discrimination laws in the nation’s schools and colleges. He is the one parents turn to when they feel their schools have failed to protect their children from discrimination or guarantee them access to an equal education under the law.
The Trump administration fired much of the office’s staff in its first months and prioritized investigations into schools that allegedly discriminated against white and Jewish students and welcomed transgender students. McMahon and the department presented this as a change in direction consistent with efforts to be more efficient And slow down diversity, equity and inclusion policies previous administrations. It leaves little recourse for those seeking to defend the rights of students with disabilities, students of color and those who face gender discrimination.
In this video, Smith Richards and O’Matz discuss how McMahon and his advisors are rethinking the nation’s education system and what that could mean for the future.