Secretary Of Education McMahon Doubles Down On State Control During Jackson Visit

JACKSON — U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon on Thursday toured a Jackson-area school, championing state control of education while advocating for an end to her own department’s role in managing K-12 schools.

Accompanied by Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, McMahon’s visit to Jackson Hole Classical Academy came as part of her 50-state “Returning Education to the States Tour,” which a department spokesperson told Cowboy State Daily is intended to “empower families and hear from students, teachers, and leaders on best practices in their own communities.”

“You look at the states that have been so successful raising their scores…that’s not because of anything that is done at the federal level,” McMahon said Thursday. “That’s because of what’s done at the state level.”

The spokesperson, Savannah Newhouse, added the tour represents a fulfillment of President Donald Trump’s “most momentous promises” to American families about returning their control of their students’ education.

Prior to Thursday’s visit to the school, McMahon’s tour had taken her to FuturEdge Charter Academy in Las Vegas, Nevada, in April where she was accompanied by U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Florida. The secretary also toured Arapahoe Community College in Littleton, Colorado in July.

She will travel to Montana to visit another educational institution Thursday before departing to attend the funeral of the late political influencer Charlie Kirk, who was gunned down last week while speaking at Utah Valley University.

Visit

McMahon and Gordon toured several classrooms, during which they encountered students studying everything from number theory and classical literature.

McMahon said she was highly impressed by what she saw at the school, referring to the students she encountered as “eloquent” during a roundtable discussion.

The secretary told Cowboy State Daily she remains in agreement with Trump on the future of the Department of Education but disagreed that her ultimate goal is to see it “dismantled.” 

“First of all, I want to get back to this notion that you keep saying the word ‘dismantled,’” she told Cowboy State Daily. “I keep saying returning education to the states and getting rid of the bureaucracy of education.”

McMahon added she doesn’t believe her department can accept credit from schools improving during Trump’s time in office. It’s teaching improvements states have made, she said, that have had the biggest impact on test scores.

Asked how Gordon plans to approach education with less federal oversight, the governor highlighted Wyoming’s uniquely independent attitude, which he said makes it distinct from other places along the East Coast.

“When you get a national prescription that may have been for a place like New York City, it’s hard to apply here in Wyoming,” he said. 

Schools that make students choose between two classes such as math and band are a disservice created by bureaucratic red tape, Gordon said.

“They can do both,” he said.

McMahon also touched on civics education, which she said has been lacking in the United States. Her national tour, she said, is partly to encourage this type of learning in schools across the country.

“I think it is really fitting that civics be taught all across our country,” she said. “I think it’s critical. I’m delighted to be part of this tour that’s coming up over the next year.”

National Headwinds

President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for an end to the Department of Education, lambasting it as a tool of indoctrination which continually produces underperforming students. He has advocated instead for states to take control of their curricula.

“Closing the Department of Education would provide children and their families the opportunity to escape a system that is failing them,” the president wrote in a March executive order. “Ultimately, the Department of Education’s main functions can, and should, be returned to the States.”

McMahon remains in lockstep with Trump on this matter, despite the potential detrimental impact on her own job. She addressed this in a March release describing the charge as a “momentous final mission” for the department.

“Our job is to respect the will of the American people and the President they elected, who has tasked us with accomplishing the elimination of bureaucratic bloat here at the Department of Education — a momentous final mission — quickly and responsibly,” she wrote. “Removing red tape and bureaucratic barriers will empower parents to make the best educational choices for their children.”

Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder, who was at Thursday’s event, also supports this vision. She joined Trump at the White House in March to witness him sign an executive order gutting the department of most of its legal authority.

“It’s just a truly momentous and historic day for education in America, and it’s a win for American students,” Degenfelder said. “We’re taking out the middle man in education, putting education back where it belongs — in the classroom and not in D.C. offices.”

Jackson Walker can be reached at walker@cowboystatedaily.com.