On Feb. 12, more than 150 public educators, students, and community members braved cold temperatures and freezing rain to join the National Education Association’s (NEA) “Rally to Protect Students and Public Schools” outside the Capitol building. The group was protesting Trump’s repeated claims that he wants to abolish the Department of Education and the nomination hearing of his appointee to head the department, Linda McMahon. McMahon’s hearing is set for Feb. 13 at 10 a.m.
McMahon is a longtime business executive and friend of the president. She previously served as head of the U.S. Small Business Association from 2017 to 2019 during Trump’s first term in office. She left the agency in 2019 to lead America First Policy Institute (AFPI), a pro-Trump Super PAC. Before that, she was likely best known for running the World Wrestling Enterprise (WWE) with her husband, Vince McMahon.
In a statement released in November 2024, when Trump announced McMahon as his pick, NEA President Becky Pringle called McMahon “Betsy DeVos 2.0.”
“By selecting Linda McMahon, Donald Trump is showing that he could not care less about our students’ futures,” Pringle wrote. “McMahon’s only mission is to eliminate the Department of Education and take away taxpayer dollars from public schools, where 90% of students—and 95% of students with disabilities—learn, and give them to unaccountable and discriminatory private schools.”
Pringle spoke at the rally along with the President of the American Teacher’s Federation Randi Weingarten and several members of Congress, including Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia, the ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Dozens of educators from across the country were in the audience chanting in support of the speakers and jeering at the mention of Trump or McMahon.
Linda McMahon has no formal background in education and little was known about her educational policies until January of this year, when the AFPI published her “nomination bio.” According to the bio, she supports “parental rights in education,” “school choice expansion,” “state and district control of education,” and “reducing the federal education bureaucracy.” She opposes “political indoctrination in classrooms” and “government overreach.”
Rallygoers told the Voice that McMahon’s nomination sends a message that Trump and his staff do not value or respect educators and public education.
“I have a master’s degree. I have 45 hours beyond a master’s degree, all in education. And to see a lady come in who just wants to be the Secretary of Education, who’s never really even been in a classroom, is really disheartening,” Renae Noble, a longtime educator and the Secretary/Treasurer of the Nebraska State Education Association, said.
Noble traveled to D.C. from Chadron, a small town in Nebraska’s panhandle, to protest the “dismantling” of education and McMahon’s support for school vouchers, controversial grants that allow families to use public funds to send their children to private schools.
“There’s not one high school in the panhandle of Nebraska that’s a private school. They are all public schools. And those students deserve the funding and the best education possible for public schools,” Noble said.
Noble identifies as a Republican but worries about Trump’s plans for the Department of Education and what they would mean for her students, particularly those who come from low-income families or require special education programs.
“I can’t imagine not being able to give those students free and reduced lunch, special education services, and 504 services,” Noble said. “I do not believe that education should be dismantled in any way or form.”
Photo by Katherine Wilkison
Trump has spoken openly about his desire to abolish the Department of Education. This week, Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, which is a task force aimed at slashing government spending, not an official federal department, cut $900 million from the Institute of Education Sciences, an agency that tracks educational statistics.
Joslyn DeLancey, a fifth-grade teacher from Connecticut and Vice President of the Connecticut Education Association, also expressed concerns about what the “dismantling” of the department would mean for public school students.
“Public education is a bedrock of our democracy, and we need to make sure that it persists, and that we support it, and that all of our students are included and supported, and that our educators and our service providers get the tools and resources that they need to provide a quality public education to everybody,” DeLancey said.
DeLancey questioned the way Trump and his allies discuss public education. This afternoon Trump said of the department, “I’d like it to be closed immediately. Look at the Department of Education. It’s all a big con job.”
Brian Skinner, a high school special education teacher from Kansas, spoke to the crowd about the importance of pushing back against the Trump administration’s attacks on public education and preserving existing programs. Like many educators who spoke to the Voice, Skinner brought it back to his students.
“We are going to make sure that our voices are heard and these federal programs stay intact. We know that every child deserves to achieve their best success,” Skinner said in his speech. “Make sure that your voices are heard because that is what our students deserve. When we fight, we win.”
