Defending Ed. Dept. Cuts, Linda McMahon Says It’s Time to ‘Do Something Different’
Brooke Schultz
April 8, 2025
The education secretary told an audience of ed-tech entrepreneurs she wants to empower states to use best practices to improve schools
Education Secretary Linda McMahon defended the Trump administration’s deep cuts to the U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday by saying it’s time to “shake it up” and “revamp” some of the agency’s key data collection and accountability functions that have been subject to some of the steepest reductions.
McMahon addressed attendees at the annual ASU+GSV Summit here, which has brought together thousands of ed-tech entrepreneurs and other education professionals to discuss K-12 and higher education.
Her remarks, in an on-stage discussion with two moderators—Jon Hage, the founder of a multistate charter school network, and Phyllis Lockett, who headed up a charter school initiative in Chicago—came as the education secretary seeks to make some of the biggest changes to federal education policy in recent memory. The Trump administration is moving to shut down the Education Department, halving the agency’s staff and swiftly canceling scores of grants and contracts, while simultaneously ramping up enforcement of President Donald Trump’s policies on diversity, equity, and inclusion; transgender athletes; and antisemitism by threatening federal funding cuts to schools and organizations that don’t comply.
