Education in the United States is not what it used to be. The 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) found that reading scores have decreased significantly to the point that only 30 percent of eighth graders meet reading proficiency levels.
Math scores are not much better, and proficiency levels are lower today than they were before COVID-era school closures.
It is clear we must make significant, lasting changes. President Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of education, Linda McMahon, is the right person to deliver those changes.
America needs to reallocate control of education to families, so decisions can be made by those who best understand each child's unique needs, challenges, and goals. It is simply common sense that parents should decide what is best for their children—not federal bureaucrats thousands of miles away who have never met the students and who impose heavy-handed, one-size-fits-all education mandates.
Linda McMahon is a fierce advocate for restoring parents' power in the classroom and putting local communities back into a leadership position. Aided by her exemplary work at the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) and America First Works, the U.S. went from zero states with universal school choice to 12—and I'm proud my home state of Alabama is now among that number.
Linda is committed to continuing this important work for the Trump administration, ensuring every child in America has access to an excellent education regardless of zip code or household income. She will help bring our education system back to the fundamentals of reading and math, restore patriotic education and civics studies to our classrooms, increase curriculum transparency, end radical gender ideology indoctrination, and protect women and girls. Linda believes wholeheartedly that school boards, administrators, and teachers are ultimately accountable to parents—and that our national education policy should be too.
President Trump has listened to the American people and made clear women's and girls' sports should be for women and girls. Linda has been an unwavering champion on this issue and will work to safeguard the original intention of Title IX, ensuring fairness and safety for our female student athletes.
But these are not the only goals Linda McMahon will pursue as secretary of education. While attending a four-year college or university is a worthwhile endeavor for many Americans, it should not be the only pathway to success available to graduating high schoolers.
Linda led efforts to empower the American worker at AFPI, and I am confident she will prioritize aligning our education and workforce systems at the Department of Education. This means strengthening 21st-century skills training and job preparedness, bridging the gap between technical school programs and industries, and expanding apprenticeships and credentialing programs.
In a competitive, ever-changing economic environment, it is more important than ever to ensure students are investing in their futures and taking on as little debt as possible as they pursue a career. Linda's background makes her uniquely situated to make that a reality. She has experience as an executive, she's already demonstrated an ability to get government out of Americans' way as head of the Small Business Administration, and she knows both K-12 and higher education—Linda served on the Connecticut State Board of Education and has been on the Sacred Heart University board of trustees since 2004.
Linda McMahon is someone who knows how to reform our education system so it actually prepares kids for the future, while also empowering parents to make decisions affecting their children's lives. She is a fantastic choice to lead the Department of Education to advance President Trump's agenda and follow through on his promise of sending education policy back to the states.
Linda's confirmation as secretary of education will be a monumental step toward preserving the American Dream and making a bright future possible for the next generation of Americans. Linda McMahon is yet another example of how this administration is putting America first, and I cannot wait to work with her to support America's kids and parents.
Katie Britt, a Republican, serves as the junior U.S. Senator from Alabama.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
