McMahon pushes back on criticism as education tour stops in Connecticut
The nation’s top education leader visited Connecticut on Thursday.
U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon, a Connecticut resident who previously ran unsuccessfully for Senate, stopped in Seymour as part of the Department of Education’s “History Rocks Tour,” a 50-state initiative tied to the nation’s upcoming 250th birthday.
Students took part in a history quiz as McMahon encouraged participation during the event.
But the tour has faced pushback in some communities. Critics have raised concerns about ties to partisan groups, including Turning Point USA. Some districts, including Fairfield, have canceled planned appearances.
“They are social interest groups with a very specific bent on what they’re trying to accomplish and so for us that doesn’t feel like a celebration of America,” said Kate Dias, president of the teachers’ union, the Connecticut Education Association.
McMahon addressed the controversy in an interview with NBC Connecticut.
“It’s really questionable about that because if you’ve seen [at the Seymour stop], what these programs are like, I think there was maybe a lot of misperception about what the programs might be. But this was really just about our country and a lot of state specific questions,” McMahon said.
During a later roundtable in Seymour, the superintendent said the district welcomed the visit as an opportunity to highlight local schools and emphasize the importance of federal funding.
The visit comes as McMahon and President Donald Trump push to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, shifting more responsibility to states.
“The responsibility for education, I do believe, rests with the states because they know their students better,” McMahon said.
Critics argue the effort would lead to funding cuts rather than increased local control.
“The only thing they’re doing under this umbrella of returning it to the states is cutting funding by collapsing grants and then cutting them. So this illusion that we’re somehow being privileged with getting some autonomy is just a total and complete fallacy,” Dias said.
Breaking up the department would move certain programs to other federal agencies.
Amid a drop in student test scores nationwide, some believe a better way of doling out federal money is needed.
“I don’t really see that there’ll be a great deal of change overall as we move to this. Just the monies will come from different agencies and we would eliminate an entire department within the federal government,” said Ben Proto, Connecticut Republican chair.
McMahon also told NBC Connecticut she opposes so-called DEI policies in the state and said the department is working to change programs that do not align with the administration’s goals when federal funding is involved.
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