A billionaire who kicked her husband's balls on national television for the WWE empire, a reality TV show owned by her family, and who is also a major donor to the POTUS, has been appointed to lead the Department of Education, despite having no experience in education.
McMahon's directive is to oversee the department until she is no longer employed, making it clear that eliminating the ED as part of its "anti-DEI" agenda is the ultimate goal, which could mean that poor and disabled kids won't have a seat at education and opportunities.
Always remember that the goal of any oligarch is to privatize the government; after gutting the department, they will begin privatizing education, a long-held dream of the right, which could mean even more education inequality. This is also why they’re gutting federal workforce, so they can privatize services and/or implement AI government automation. They also want to fully privatize healthcare (most don’t know healthcare is already heavily privatized which is why it’s more expensive than it should be), social security (if they don’t gut it first), education, FAA, post office (Through UPS, I mailed a package that cost $100, the same package was $30 through USPS. So we’re saying OK to being charged whatever free market chooses), and anything else they can get their hands on to privatize.
A major misconception held by many Americans is that the Education Department oversees school curriculums and learning; however, contrary to popular belief that is assisted by lies, the Department of Education has historically had no role in setting curriculum—the states and local governments do this.
The Department of Education, which accounts for only 2% of the federal budget, plays a critical role in safeguarding the provision and oversight of special education services to millions of students with Down syndrome and other disabilities, as well as adults with disabilities. Disabled people inherently lack access to education compared to non-disabled people and have always had to fight for the basic right to education. Historically, disabled people have been institutionalized or denied education until oversight for equal opportunity was established. Universities even discourage disabled people from attending and lobbied against the implementation of ADA, so did churches which is why they’re exempt from the law. Despite the ADA, significant discrimination and inaccessibility still persist. This was true yesterday and will be even truer now. Additionally, the Department of Education provides federal loans for college education, so anyone with the school loan may be negatively affected. They’ve also removed school loan relief enacted by the previous administration.
Always remember that JD Vance's admission to Yale was facilitated by a DEI initiative specifically designed for veterans and the impoverished.
Project 2025 suggests shifting oversight of programs for kids with disabilities and low-income children to the Department of Health and Human Services, before phasing out funding and converting it to grants for states. This move would be catastrophic for working-class and low-income families. Offloading Department of Education tasks to state and local governments would probably increase costs for families, resulting in higher state taxes. Additionally, when dismantling a system that affects millions, including vulnerable populations like disabled and poor children, a concrete plan for task and service transfer is crucial, but absent. The absence of a plan makes their stance on concern for kids with disabilities and the most vulnerable clear.
There are issues with efficiency, waste, and fraud in the government. Most definitely. I'm also not saying that education doesn’t need to be completely reimagined, but there's a problem with partisan dishonesty that only “exposes” one side when both sides are part of the same system. "Waste" can also be seen as subjective. For instance, Elon Musk might not think giving all our tax dollars to his Mars endeavor is wasteful, but for working-class individuals who struggle to make ends meet and lack access to healthcare and education, Mars might not be their top priority. Investigating "fraud" also takes more time than quickly cutting federal agencies based on words read on a screen and flagging terms like "DEI". One should question DOGE’s "fraud" allegations because if he’s actually found fraud, people would be arrested or charged by the DOJ, which hasn't happened. Additionally, all of this is being led by a billionaire who bought the election, the richest man in the world, who receives $8 million a day from taxpayers and gets to decide where our tax dollars go.
Meanwhile, states like the Texas Public Educational Board have approved Christian-based curricula for public schools. I have seen little discussion about this, but I have been watching similar attempts across states; a known focus for Christian nationalists who are major White House donors. While there is nothing wrong with being Christian, imposing one's religious beliefs on public schools is unacceptable in a nation founded on the principles of freedom of religion, especially when those beliefs may not align with one's own religious convictions. I can only imagine the resistance Christians would implement if their children were enrolled in a public school curriculum based on the Muslim faith, and they would be right to resist. This is why separation of church and state exists, and why Christians should even want to protect this important aspect that this country was found on.
These new-forming Christian-based public education curricula may be labeled “optional” for now, but federal and state tax dollars are not supposed to fund religious curriculum. Christian nationalists, who are major Republican donors, are involved in spreading this endeavor, seeking to increase public funding for private Christian schools and infuse public education with religion. Given the recent undemocratic bullying of removing funding from universities that don’t comply with POTUS demands, it’s not out of the box to think they would do the same if public schools don’t teach what they want, whether that’s religion or whatever ideology they want to elevate.
One last thing: for anyone who says they don't want to pay for disabled children to go to school, or they don't want their tax dollars to fund poor kids' education - Jason and I don't have any children, and yet a lot of tax dollars fund your kids' education, which we're completely fine with, because not everything has to be transactional or directly beneficial to the individual. The problem is we think small-scale, but on a large scale, of course, I'd want to contribute to children's education, even if I don't have kids, because it means a better societal system. My community's gain is my gain.
All billionaire Linda McMahon did was donate to get the job, and now education is being led by someone with no education experience. But I guess you don't need any when the objective is to gut and get rid of the entire department. What this is really about is gutting public education in the interest of billionaires pushing tax cuts and school privatization.
There is a Netflix documentary called McMahon that accounts for the corrupt families’ history as well as the patriarch who was embroiled in scandals. I know we don’t care about this kind of stuff anymore because we’ve been so desensitized by pathological lying and corrupt political theater, but the vibe of this family and the shit they put out on TV is what is the head of our education. But most importantly, all billionaire Linda McMahon did was donate to get the job, and now education is being led by someone with no education experience, but I guess you don’t need any when the objective is to gut and get rid of the entire department.
