President-elect Donald Trump tapped the billionaire professional wrestling mogul to be secretary of the Department of Education.
President-elect Donald Trump’s tapping of billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Department of Education has been criticized by educators.
Critics see the nomination as the latest instance of Trump selecting a loyalist to serve in his incoming administration over someone with more relevant experience.
« By selecting Linda McMahon, Donald Trump is showing that he could not care less about our students’ futures », Becky Pringle, the president of the National Education Association, said in a statement. She added, « McMahon’s only mission is to eliminate the Department of Education and take away taxpayer dollars from public schools. »
Shaun Harper, a professor of education, public policy and business at the University of Southern California, told the Los Angeles Times: « America’s schoolchildren and college students deserved an Education Secretary who brings deep education experience to the role.
« Instead, they got a former World Wrestling Entertainment executive. This is embarrassing and a slap in the face to our nation’s talented educators. »
In his announcement, Trump said McMahon would use her « decades of Leadership experience, and deep understanding of both Education and Business, to empower the next Generation of American Students and Workers, and make America Number One in Education in the World. »
McMahon has minimal experience in education, having served for one year on the Connecticut Board of Education starting in 2009, the Associated Press reported. She also spent years on the board of Sacred Heart University, a Catholic school in Connecticut.
