Education Secretary McMahon promotes tech training, defends budget cuts in Rochester visit
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The Trump administration's top education official defended the massive budget cuts and layoffs she’s made during a visit to Rochester Wednesday.
U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon toured Rochester Community and Technical College as part of what she calls her “Returning Education to the States Tour” in which she is highlighting her effort to downsize the department of education and give more control to the states.
The former pro wrestling executive has gutted the federal agency, laying off nearly half of its workforce and offloading more than 100 programs and obligations, including special education services and distribution of Title I grants, to other federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Labor.
“Other agencies have some of that work already up and running,” McMahon said. “Also [they] have better technology often to distribute the funding for the grant programs. All of that seems to be going incredibly well. But I've called it my proof of concept. Let us finish the job.”
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But a recent NPR investigation found otherwise, reporting that many staffers say that during McMahon’s 16-month tenure, the federal agency has become more complex, costly and inefficient. The employees said the mass staffing cuts and redistribution of some remaining employees to other agencies has made it more difficult to serve states and schools who rely on billions of dollars in federal money to educate students who need the most support, including low-income students and those with disabilities.
And, in some cases, McMahon seems to be backtracking. NPR found, for example, that after slicing the department’s student loan office staff in half, the agency needed to go on a hiring spree to bring staff back on board.
McMahon, who gained notoriety for founding World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) with her husband Vince McMahon, is nearing the end of her “Returning Education to the States” tour. She has been traveling to all 50 states to hear directly from teachers, parents, students and community leaders about what is working in their communities and to compile a tool kit of best practices to share with states across the nation.
Minnesota is the 44th state McMahon has visited.
McMahon’s visit to Rochester could boost the reelection campaign of Republican Congressman Brad Finstad, who appeared with the member of President Trump’s cabinet. Finstad is in the midst of a heated and tight race for his seat representing Minnesota’s first district, which covers much of the southern portion of the state. According to a recent KAAL TV-Survey USA poll, DFL challenger Jake Johnson has an edge over Finstad.
In Rochester, McMahon toured the technical college to learn more about some of its training programs, including its peace officer simulation, carpentry and automotive programs.
McMahon highlighted the Trump administration's efforts to boost vocational education, saying this sort of training is critical to addressing the nation's shortage of skilled workers.
“For every five that are leaving the workforce now, only two are coming back in,” McMahon said. “If we don't fulfill that gap by 2030, it could have as much as a trillion-dollar impact on our economy. It is really vital that schools like this and other technical institutions, community colleges, continue to work with our high schools, with our private sector to say what they need.”
Earlier that day, she visited Dakota County Technical College in Rosemount and Great Oaks Academy, a charter school in Farmington.
