Linda McMahon’s nomination attacked by educators: ‘Slap in the Face’

President-elect Donald Trump’s tapping of billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to become secretary of the Department of Education has been criticized by educators.

Critics see the nomination as the latest instance of Trump choosing a loyalist to serve in his incoming administration over someone with more relevant experience.

“By electing Linda McMahon, Donald Trump is showing he couldn’t care less about the future of our students,” Becky Pringle, the president of the National Education Association, said in a statement. She added, “McMahon’s sole mission is to eliminate the Department of Education and remove taxpayer dollars from public schools.”

Shaun Harper, professor of education, public policy and business at the University of Southern California, said Los Angeles Times: “America’s school children and college students deserved an education secretary who brings deep education experience to the role.

“Instead, they got a former World Wrestling Entertainment executive. It’s 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 a year on the Connecticut Board of Education starting in 2009, the Associated Press reported. She also spent many years on the board of trustees of Sacred Heart University, a Catholic school in Connecticut.

Her background in business is more extensive. McMahon and her husband, Vince McMahon, founded the company now known as World Wrestling Entertainment in 1980, and she served as the company’s president and then its CEO until 2009, when she stepped down to enter politics.

McMahon ran unsuccessfully twice as a Republican for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut. Her husband stepped down from his role as WWE CEO amid an investigation into sex-trafficking allegations, and a lawsuit filed last month accuses WWE founders of fostering a culture of sexual abuse within the organization.

McMahon, who led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term, later chaired the board of the America First Policy Institute, a think tank affiliated with Trump. She also co-chaired Trump’s transition team.

In her statement, the president-elect highlighted McMahon’s advocacy for school choice, saying, “Linda will fight tirelessly to expand ‘Choice’ to every state in America and empower parents to make the best education decisions for their families.”

He also said she would spearhead efforts to “send education BACK TO THE STATES,” possibly referring to his promise to dismantle the Department of Education.

Newsweek contacted a Trump spokesman for comment by email outside normal business hours.

In his response to the announcement, Pringle said: “During his first term, Donald Trump appointed Betsy DeVos to undermine and ultimately privatize public schools through vouchers.

“Now he and Linda McMahon are back at it with their extreme Project 2025 proposal to eliminate the Department of Education, steal resources from our most vulnerable students, increase class sizes, cut job training programs, make higher education more expensive and out of reach for middle-class families , remove special education services for students with disabilities and jeopardize protections for students’ civil rights.”

She added, “The Senate must stand up for our students and reject Donald Trump’s unqualified nominee, Linda McMahon. Our students and our nation deserve so much better than Betsy DeVos 2.0.”

Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, said that while little is known about McMahon’s views, the union would “try to work with anyone who puts the aspirations of our students, families and communities first.”

“While we expect we will disagree with Linda McMahon on many issues, our devotion to children requires us to work together on policies that can improve the lives of students, their families, their educators and their communities,” she said in a statement.

Newsweek contacted Pringle, Harper and Weingarten for comment via email outside normal business hours.

While McMahon’s nomination was met with criticism from some educators, others welcomed Trump’s election as a victory for parents’ rights.

“Congratulations @Linda_McMahon on being appointed Education Minister!” Tiffany Justice, a co-founder of the parental rights group Moms for Liberty, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“Let’s put parents back in the driver’s seat by supporting Linda as she works for a future where education is parent-led and focused on preparing students for real-world success,” she added.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, called McMahon “a proven leader who has delivered school choice for families across the country.”

He captioned the X: “As Secretary of Education, she will work with @realDonaldTrump to empower parents with educational freedom and send education back to the states so all children can thrive.”