McMahon’s Education Department Drives Rapid Shift Away From Public Schools

Overview

• ProPublica reports that over eight months the department opened a $500 million funding stream for charter schools, accelerating departures from district systems.
• Education Secretary Linda McMahon has laid off roughly half the agency’s workforce and has publicly described moving to shutter or padlock the department.
• The agency has urged states to route federal aid for disadvantaged students to private providers and to children in private schools who live within district boundaries.
• Officials have pursued policies aligned with conservative Christian priorities, including notifying schools they will follow an order defining two sexes and targeting DEI-related programs with investigations and potential sanctions.
• Fiscal moves include cutting hundreds of millions from grants, proposing a 15% reduction and consolidating 18 programs into a $2 billion block grant, alongside a new federal tax credit law set to launch the first national voucher program on Jan. 1, 2027.