Education Secretary Linda McMahon told Newsmax on Thursday that America's struggling students — not Washington bureaucrats — are driving her mission to dismantle the Department of Education and return control of education to the states.
In an interview on Newsmax's "National Report," McMahon said President Donald Trump was "embarrassed" and "angered" after reviewing the nation's education data shortly after taking office.
"When the president first took office last January ... we were only reading and doing math at 30% proficiency in 12th grade, eighth grade, and fourth grade," McMahon said. "Now think about that — 30% proficiency across our country."
McMahon said the president concluded the education system itself is broken.
"We're not doing something right," she said. "The money is not getting to the children.
"We are not teaching the way we should teach. We should let teachers teach."
According to McMahon, the administration believes education decisions are best made at the local and state level.
"Those states that have been innovative — governors who have brought in the science of reading and are now focusing more on math — all of that is happening at the state level," McMahon said. "It is not happening in Washington, D.C."
McMahon said her role is to execute the president's vision by unwinding the federal education bureaucracy and redistributing its responsibilities through partnerships with other agencies.
The Department of Education has already signed interagency agreements with the Department of Labor, transferring oversight of workforce programs like the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act and the Perkins Grant.
"They have a more sophisticated technology system at Labor, so we're getting the payments out the door on time without a hitch," McMahon said, calling the arrangement a "proof of concept" for broader reforms.
Additional agreements with the Departments of Energy, Interior, and Health and Human Services are in progress, McMahon said, allowing federal education programs to continue operating without being housed in a standalone department.
She emphasized that key funding streams will not disappear.
"Title I funds flowed before the Department of Education was created in 1980. IDEA funding flowed," McMahon said. "That money is going to continue to flow to where it needs to be without having to pass through the bureaucracy."
McMahon also highlighted aggressive efforts to crack down on federal student loan fraud, saying the department has saved taxpayers roughly $1 billion after uncovering widespread abuse of the FAFSA program — particularly in Minnesota.
"Bots were applying online. Some applicants weren't even alive," she said. "We're now requiring stronger identification so that money goes to real students."
McMahon sent a letter this week to Minnesota Democrat Gov. Tim Walz, calling on him to resign for what she described as a "dereliction of office" following the fraud and what she said is a broader pattern of mismanagement that has engulfed his administration.
"We did find a heavy concentration in Minnesota. And we didn't think that much was being done about it. So we brought it to the governor's attention," McMahon said, adding she has not heard back from Walz.
"I would like to hear from the governor, and I'll wait and hear what his response is. There are many levers that, you know, the Department of Education has, you know, with federal funding, etc. I don't want it and don't think it will go that far."
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